Fat type needs closer attention in heart health advice
including omega-3 fatty acids, to help reduce the high numbers of
people with heart disease in the UK, said a new report released
yesterday.
Drawn up by a task force of experts commissioned by the British Nutrition Foundation, the report reviews the latest evidence on the role of diet in heart disease and new risk factors that should be targeted in prevention.
The authors said that dietary guidelines related to heart disease, last issued in the UK in 1994, need to be revised to account for better knowledge of the role played by different types of fat.
The old guidelines largely focus on cutting down on total fat and saturates to improve cholesterol levels.
"For the majority of the population, moderation in fat intake still needs to be advised, but there needs to be more emphasis on partial replacement of saturates with unsaturated fatty acids (mono- and polyunsaturates). In particular, average intakes of long chain n-3 fatty acids (as found in oily fish) are well below recommendations, as highlighted recently by the Food Standards Agency," said a press release from the BNF, an independent charity.
The Task Force said that emerging risk factors, in addition to the classical ones like smoking and high blood pressure, are also influenced by diet and need to be taken into account.
These include factors associated with inflammation and blood clotting, lowered resistance to oxidative stress, abnormal insulin responses, raised blood homocysteine and impaired functioning of blood vessels. The evidence concerning the influence of experiences in early life, even before birth, on later disease risk has also been considered.
The report could have a significant influence on public health policy in Britain, which has one of the highest death rates from cardiovascular disease in the world.
A similar report on obesity, published by the BNF in 1999, is thought to have been influential on the first report from the country's national audit office into obesity, leading to increased government attention.
The UK's department of health has set a target to substantially reduce mortality rates from heart disease and stroke by at least 40 per cent in people under 75 by 2010 and therefore will need to pay close attention to the latest advice.
Professor Keith Frayn from the University of Oxford, who chaired the task force, said the report would also be of use to health professionals and the food industry.
