Diet and cardiovascular disease prevention - The need for a paradigm shift

The traditional diet-heart hypothesis (that high intake of saturated fats and cholesterol leads to atheromatous plaque, narrowing of coronary arteries, and, eventually, myocardial infarction) dates back to evidence from the beginning of the 20th century (1). Early animal studies showed a relationship among dietary cholesterol, saturated fat, and arterial lesions, an effect mediated largely through elevations in plasma cholesterol. Subsequently, metabolic research found that dietary intake of specific fatty acids directly influenced blood cholesterol in humans, and epidemiologic studies identified elevated serum cholesterol as a strong Independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Together with ecologic correlations between diet and heart disease rates and findings from migration studies and special populations, these data heavily influenced the formation of the diet-heart hypothesis.