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SMALL EFFECT OF LOW-FAT DIETS ON LIFE EXPECTANCY.

Many expert groups recommend that Americans reduce the fat in their diets from the current 37 percent to 30 percent of total caloric intake. To evaluate the effect of such a dietary shift, researchers used computer models and available literature on the relation among dietary fat, cholesterol, and mortality from cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases.

The models indicated that fat reduction would reduce mortality from coronary heart disease by five percent to 20 percent, with even larger reductions in mortality from the three cancers examined (breast, prostate, and colon). However, these benefits would mainly affect the elderly, so that the average life expectancy would increase by only three to four months.

These findings are consistent with other studies that have shown small increases in life expectancy associated with cholesterol reduction. The authors caution that their model does not take into account possible adverse effects of long-term cholesterol reduction, so that even this moderate benefit may be an overestimate.

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine July 2, 1991

Citation(s):

Browner WS et al. A quantitative estimate of the effect on mortality. JAMA 1991 Jun 26 265 3285-3291.

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