NEW YORK, Sep 13 (Reuters Health) -- Even though the American Heart Association (AHA) still recommends getting no more than 30% of calories from fat, the Dallas-based group is offering a bit of a reprieve. For some people, exceeding that limit by a little bit can still be part of a healthy lifestyle, as long as the majority of fat calories come from monounsaturated fats in foods like olive oil, avocados, peanuts and other nuts, rather than from saturated fats found in meat and dairy products, according to a report in the September 14th issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In the report, the AHA Nutrition Committee reviews a number of studies that have examined the relationship between different types of fat and the risk of heart disease. Several of these studies have found that people who eat a high-monounsaturated fat diet -- common in Mediterranean countries including Spain, Italy and Greece -- have a lower risk of heart disease than people who eat more saturated fats, explains Dr. Penny M. Kris-Etherton, a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University and the author of the report. These findings hold even though fat typically makes up more than 30% of the Mediterranean diet's total calories.
"These studies are telling us that the type of fat may be as important as how much of it is eaten," Kris-Etherton commented in a statement to the press.
"It's an exciting time in nutrition," she told Reuters Health in an interview. "We're recognizing that there is another diet option that is healthy," she said.
Monounsaturated fats are believed to be good for the heart for several reasons, Kris-Etherton notes. There is evidence that monounsaturated fats may prevent blood clots, which may cause heart attack or stroke, according to the report. Some studies have shown that monounsaturated fats can decrease levels of harmful blood fats called triglycerides as well as increase HDL (or 'good') cholesterol, she writes.
However, Kris-Etherton stresses that eating more monounsaturated fats is no substitute for keeping total calories under control and exercising regularly to prevent weight gain, which is an important risk for heart disease.
"We have to be careful and not overdo it" with monounsaturated fats, she said in the interview. "We have to be careful of our calorie intake," she said noting that fat is dense with calories. A single gram of fat contains nine calories, while one gram of protein or carbohydrate have just four calories.
"This is especially important, because of the growing number of individuals who are overweight and obese," she said in the news release.
