Effect of Interventions Aimed at Reducing or Modifying Saturated Fat Intake on Cholesterol, Mortality, and Major Cardiovascular Events : A Risk Stratified Systematic Review of Randomized Trials
Authors' conclusion
For persons at low cardiovascular risk, reducing or modifying saturated fat intake has little or no benefit over a period of 5 years. Among persons at high cardiovascular risk, low- to moderate-certainty evidence was found for important reductions in mortality and major cardiovascular events, particularly for MI, with respect to replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with or without CVD
- Participants
- 66,337 adults17 trials
- Comparison
- Reducing or modifying saturated fat intake vs control
- Outcome
- All-cause mortality, CV mortality, nonfatal MI, fatal and nonfatal stroke
Methodological detailsrisk-stratified
- Risk-stratified
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Reduced saturated fat vs ControlRelative risk (95% CI)
All-cause mortality
0.96(0.88–1.06)
CV mortality
0.93(0.77–1.11)
Nonfatal MI
0.86(0.70–1.06)
Fatal and nonfatal stroke
0.83(0.58–1.19)
Further pooled results
Nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat (subgroup)
| RR (CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fatP for interaction = 0.05 · moderate credibility of subgroup effect (ICEMAN) | 0.75 (0.58–0.99) | |
| 0.512Relative risk (log scale) |
- Nonfatal MI, replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat (subgroup): P for interaction = 0.05
Original publication
Effect of Interventions Aimed at Reducing or Modifying Saturated Fat Intake on Cholesterol, Mortality, and Major Cardiovascular Events : A Risk Stratified Systematic Review of Randomized Trials. Ann Intern Med. Published 16 December 2025. doi:10.
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