Saturated fat
Atomic claims
Saturated fats are fats whose fatty acid chains contain no carbon–carbon double bonds.
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Saturated fats are typically solid at room temperature.
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Saturated fats occur mainly in animal fats and some tropical plant oils.
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Most major health authorities recommend limiting saturated fat intake.
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Saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol.
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The strength of the link between saturated fat and cardiovascular events and mortality remains debated in the research literature.
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A saturated fatty acid has only single bonds between carbon atoms.
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A saturated fatty acid chain carries the maximum number of hydrogen atoms.
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Common dietary saturated fatty acids include lauric (C12:0), myristic (C14:0), palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acids.
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Fat of any type supplies about 9 kcal per gram.
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Major food sources of saturated fat include butter, cheese, fatty meats, lard, tallow, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.
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Coconut oil is roughly 80–90% saturated fatty acids by weight.
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The World Health Organization recommends that adults and children limit saturated fatty acid intake to less than 10% of total energy intake.
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The World Health Organization recommends replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat from plant sources, or carbohydrates from whole grains, vegetables, fruits and pulses.
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The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025 recommend less than 10% of calories per day from saturated fat starting at age 2.
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The American Heart Association recommends a dietary pattern with 5–6% of calories from saturated fat for adults who would benefit from lowering LDL cholesterol.
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In controlled feeding trials, replacing carbohydrate with lauric, myristic or palmitic acid raises LDL cholesterol.
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In controlled feeding trials, stearic acid has little effect on LDL cholesterol.
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A 2017 AHA Presidential Advisory concluded that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oil reduced cardiovascular disease by about 30% in selected randomized trials.
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A 2020 Cochrane review of 15 randomized trials found that reducing saturated fat lowered the risk of combined cardiovascular events by about 17%.
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A 2020 Cochrane review found little or no effect of reducing saturated fat on all-cause or cardiovascular mortality.
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A 2010 meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies found no significant evidence that dietary saturated fat was associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease.
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A 2015 meta-analysis of observational studies found saturated fat intake was not associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke or type 2 diabetes.
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The 2015 meta-analysis by de Souza et al. described the observational evidence regarding saturated fat as heterogeneous with methodological limitations.
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The PURE cohort study reported that higher saturated fat intake was associated with lower total mortality and lower stroke risk.
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The hypothesis linking dietary saturated fat, serum cholesterol and heart disease is historically associated with Ancel Keys and the Seven Countries Study.
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The effect of saturated fat on LDL cholesterol is well established.
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Whether reducing saturated fat intake lowers cardiovascular events and mortality is disputed.
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Trial-based reviews report benefit for cardiovascular events from reducing saturated fat.
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Several observational analyses report no clear association between saturated fat and cardiovascular events and mortality.
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Many researchers argue that health results depend on what nutrient replaces saturated fat.
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Researchers report a cardiovascular benefit when replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat and whole grains.
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Some researchers argue that saturated fat from different foods has differing effects.
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Some researchers argue that nutrient-based limits on saturated fat are too blunt.
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Guideline bodies have retained their limits on saturated fat.
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Reanalyses of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and the Minnesota Coronary Experiment reported no mortality benefit from replacing saturated fat with linoleic acid.
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The AHA advisory excluded or discounted the Sydney Diet Heart Study and the Minnesota Coronary Experiment on design grounds.
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Critics of the PURE study have cited residual confounding as a limit on its generalizability.
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Saturated fat is a type of lipid.
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All carbon-carbon bonds within the fatty acid chains of a saturated fat are single bonds.
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The fatty acid chains of a saturated fat are fully saturated with hydrogen atoms.
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Saturated fats are predominantly found in animal products.
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The health impacts of dietary saturated fat are the subject of extensive scientific analysis.
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Standard public health guidelines recommend the limitation of saturated fat intake.
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Standard public health guidelines link saturated fat to elevated LDL cholesterol.
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Ongoing scientific debates question the direct causal role of saturated fat in cardiovascular disease.
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Chemically, a saturated fat is a triglyceride containing fatty acids that lack carbon-carbon double bonds.
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The linear hydrocarbon chains of saturated fats can pack closely together.
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Because their hydrocarbon chains pack closely together, saturated fats typically exist as solids at room temperature.
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Common dietary sources of saturated fat include red meat, poultry skin, full-fat dairy products, lard, palm oil, and coconut oil.
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Consuming high amounts of saturated fat is physiologically established to raise blood levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
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Elevated LDL cholesterol is a recognized risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis.
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The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020–2025) recommends that individuals aged two years and older limit their intake of saturated fats to less than 10% of total daily calories.
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The American Heart Association (AHA) advises individuals who need to lower their cholesterol to restrict saturated fat to 5% to 6% of total daily calories.
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Randomized controlled trials demonstrate that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats lowers the risk of cardiovascular events.
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Replacing saturated fats with refined carbohydrates or added sugars does not lower cardiovascular disease risk.
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Several prominent meta-analyses of observational studies have concluded there is insufficient empirical evidence to establish a direct, independent association between saturated fat intake and an increased risk of coronary heart disease or mortality.
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Nutritional scientists increasingly debate whether saturated fats have uniform metabolic effects regardless of their source.
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Some research suggests that saturated fats consumed within the matrix of whole foods do not raise cardiovascular disease risk.
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Some research suggests the metabolic effects of saturated fats in fermented dairy products like yogurt and cheese contrast with the effects of saturated fats in processed meats.
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Critics of broad saturated fat restrictions argue that saturated fat predominantly increases the concentration of large, buoyant LDL particles rather than small, dense LDL particles.
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The scientific community debates the atherogenicity of different LDL subclasses.
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Some scientists argue that large LDL particles are less strongly associated with cardiovascular risk than small, dense particles.
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External references: Wikidata Q970537