The Study
Dietary Fatty Acids, Macronutrient Substitutions, Food Sources and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease: Findings From the EPIC‐CVD Case‐Cohort Study Across Nine European Countries
This study found that people who ate more saturated fat from yogurt or fish tended to have less heart disease, and those who ate more from red meat or butter tended to have more — but it doesn’t prove that eating those foods caused the difference. It just shows a pattern, like noticing that kids who bring apples to school often don’t get sick — but maybe they also wash their hands a lot!
Analysis score
Maximum 58 for a case-control study.
Where the score came from
Eating fat doesn't automatically raise heart disease risk — what matters more is where the fat comes from.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 558 / 100
Quality score
Researchers compare people who have a condition (cases) with similar people who do not (controls), looking back in time for differences in exposure. Useful but more prone to bias.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — switching from butter or red meat to yogurt, cheese, or fish could meaningfully lower heart disease risk.
- 2Yogurt fat: 7% less heart disease.
- 3Cheese fat: 2% less.
- 4Fish fat: 13% less.
- 5Red meat fat: 7% more.
- 6Butter fat: 2% more.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
Year
2021
Authors
M. Steur, Laura Johnson, S. Sharp, F. Imamura, I. Sluijs, T. Key, A. Wood, Rajiv Chowdhury, M. Guevara, M. U. Jakobsen, I. Johansson, A. Koulman, K. Overvad, María-José Sánchez, Y. T. van der Schouw, A. Trichopoulou, E. Weiderpass, Maria Wennberg, Ju-Sheng Zheng, H. Boeing, J. Boer, M. Boutron‐Ruault, U. Ericson, A. Heath, I. Huybrechts, L. Imaz, R. Kaaks, V. Krogh, T. Kühn, C. Kyrø, G. Masala, O. Melander, C. Moreno-Iribas, S. Panico, J. Quirós, M. Rodríguez-Barranco, C. Sacerdote, Carmen Santiuste, G. Skeie, A. Tjønneland, R. Tumino, W. Verschuren, R. Zamora-Ros, C. Dahm, A. Perez-Cornago, M. Schulze, T. Tong, E. Riboli, N. Wareham, J. Danesh, A. Butterworth, N. Forouhi
Related Content
Claims (7)
It doesn’t matter as much how much fat, carbs, or protein you eat—what really matters is whether the foods you eat are healthy or processed.
People who eat cheese with saturated fat might actually have a slightly lower risk of heart disease, which is surprising because saturated fat is usually thought to be bad for the heart.
Eating more butter — even just a little more — might raise your risk of heart disease a bit compared to getting the same kind of fat from other foods like cheese or fish.
Eating more or less of different kinds of fats—like butter, olive oil, or vegetable oil—doesn’t seem to change your risk of heart disease, no matter what you eat instead of them. What matters more might be where the fat comes from, like whether it’s in cheese, nuts, or fried food.
Eating more red meat — which has certain types of fat — might raise your chance of getting heart disease by 7% for every extra 1% of your daily calories that come from those fats.
Eating fish that contains saturated fat might actually help protect your heart — for every little bit more saturated fat you get from fish, your risk of heart disease goes down by 13%.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.