WHOOPS: Cholesterol lowering using polyunsaturated fats increases the risk of death.

WHOOPS: Cholesterol lowering using polyunsaturated fats increases the risk of death. [archive]

The Sydney Diet Heart Study (SDHS) was set up to show that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat would reduce the risk of heart disease The original researchers who set up and ran the SDHS did not fully publish their data at the time (one can only speculate as to why this may be so).

When this current group of researchers finally managed to get hold of the full data from the SHDS, it was found that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat did lower cholesterol, however:

REPLACEMENT OF SATURATED FAT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE RISK OF DEATH FROM CORONARY HEART DISEASE AND ALL CAUSES. . . .

A few years later, the researchers who re-analysed the Sydney Diet Heart Study decided to try and find all the unpublished data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment (MCE). (One can again only speculate as to why the original researchers did not reveal all of their data). . . .

I shall paraphrase their findings:

THE MORE THE CHOLESTEROL WAS LOWERED THE GREATER THE RISK OF DEATH