A recent study revealed that an ingredient in vegetable fats triggers inflammation. Inflammation plays a major role in chronic illnesses including heart disease, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. The findings will have major implications for the millions of Britons who have stopped using butter in favour of the lower-fat spreads.
Replacing the saturated fats in your diet with unsaturated fats is often recommended as a way to keep your heart healthy. But this research strongly highlights that much more research is required to fully understand the differences between the types of unsaturated fats.
It seems that the only way to completely ensure the health of your heart is to avoid all fats as much as possible. An important change in your life can be to grill, steam or bake your food instead of frying it. Another good way to stay healthy is to measure out the oil and fat that you use, rather than estimating as we usually overestimate.
Coronary heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer causing around 94,000 deaths every year. It had previously been suggested that low-fat spreads could offer a reduced risk of the disease, but now it seems it might actually be making things worse.
More research will be conducted into the issue, and the topic is also likely to spark a lot of debate in the scientific community about the role of unsaturated fats in a healthy lifestyle.