WASHINGTON - A second major study from a group of researchers in Finland confirms that switching to softer margarines from butter can have a dramatic effect on heart disease risk, according to new research published in a recent (March 27) issue of Circulation. The study attributes the decreased intake of saturated fat and the subsequent reduction in heart disease to the introduction of low-fat and soft margarines as well as low-fat and fat-free milk in the last 20 years.

This same research group published similar findings in the November 1996 Annals of Internal Medicine. In both of these research papers, the researchers note that there were four dietary changes that occurred during the past two decades in Finland that can explain their observations of reduced heart disease rates. According to the researchers, these changes include: 1) introduction and promotion of oil-based soft margarine in the 1970s; 2) introduction and promotion of low-fat oil-based and water-based margarine in the 1980s; 3) introduction and promotion of low-fat milk; and 4) introduction of fat-free (skim) milk in the early 1980s. “When these products became available, consumers could easily select the healthier product without making an economic, social or gastronomic sacrifice,” the authors noted. “The change in the form of spreadable fat consumed (from butter to oil-based margarine) has been particularly important because it led not only to a decreased intake of saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, but also to an increased intake of polyunsaturated fat.”

The epidemiology research team, led by Dr. Pekka Jousilahti of the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, observed 27,721 men and women ages 30-59 for 20 years, resulting in findings that are consistent with other research. The study authors’ conclusions have been confirmed by numerous studies, including clinical research, that demonstrate that consumption of low-fat and soft margarine products results in better blood cholesterol levels than does butter.

“We are pleased to see that these findings continue to support other recent studies and confirm what the leading health professional groups have been saying for years about margarine products,” states Debra R. Judelson, M.D., FACC, FACP, director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Institute of Southern California and immediate past president of the American Medical Women’s Association. “Substituting margarine products for butter provides a dramatic benefit for our patients.”

Finland had the world’s highest rate of death from coronary heart disease 25 years ago. The researchers believe that similar cholesterol lowering programs would benefit Western nations even more. In this new study, researchers saw significant decreases in blood cholesterol levels in both men and women over a 20-year time period; average cholesterol levels decreased from 262mg/dL to about 228 mg/dL in men and 259 mg/dL to 212 mg/dL in women. “About half of the decrease in heart attack deaths associated with risk factor change was explained by the decrease in cholesterol levels alone,” Dr. Jousilahti stated. The researchers estimate that if the proportion of saturated fat in the diet could be reduced from the 16 percent level (seen in study participants’ diets) to the recommended 10 percent level, it would decrease mean blood cholesterol levels even further. This subsequent decrease would result in reducing mortality from coronary heart disease by at least 20 percent, according to the researchers.

This research from Finland is consistent with a recent statement by the Food and Nutrition Science Alliance, an organization of more than 90,000 nutrition and medical professionals in the U.S. The statement notes, “Mortality from heart disease has declined in the U.S. over the past twenty years, partly because of the shift away from more saturated animal fats to more unsaturated vegetable oils...Consumption of margarine has been a significant factor in achieving the shift away from the more saturated animal fats.”

# # #