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BARCELONA -- The large and PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology) study challenges long-held dietary recommendations on saturated fat and carbohydrates, but will it impact guidelines?
"The AHA [American Heart Association] guidelines need to be rethought in the context of all studies in total, including PURE," PI of the PURE study Salim Yusuf, MD, DPhil, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, argued in this exclusive ڴŮ point-counterpoint video.
However, observational data like this "doesn't drive to specific recommendations we can make," countered Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, of Northwestern University in Chicago, and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association who has been involved with prevention guideline development.
Greater intake of total fat and saturated and unsaturated fats was associated with a decreased risk of death, while high carbohydrate intake was associated with a significant increase in the risk of death in PURE. And, fat consumption did not correlate with cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular mortality as expected, whereas higher saturated fat intake actually was associated with less stroke risk.
The study, which was reported this week at the European Society of Cardiology meeting here and and in Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology, assessed self-reported food frequency questionnaires in 135,000 people in 18 countries, including high-, medium- and low-income nations.