Replacement of Saturated Fatty Acids from Meat by Dairy Sources in Relation to Incident Cardiovascular Disease: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk Study

Yakima D Vogtschmidt; Sabita S Soedamah-Muthu; Fumiaki Imamura; David I Givens; Julie A Lovegrove

doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.04.007

Replacement of Saturated Fatty Acids from Meat by Dairy Sources in Relation to Incident Cardiovascular Disease: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk Study

Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 Apr 11:S0002-9165(24)00397-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.04.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yakima D Vogtschmidt¹, Sabita S Soedamah-Muthu², Fumiaki Imamura³, David I Givens⁴, Julie A Lovegrove⁵

Affiliations

¹ Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
² Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Center of Research on Psychological Disorders and Somatic Diseases (CoRPS), Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands.
³ Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
⁴ Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
⁵ Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom; Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom. Electronic address: j.a.lovegrove@reading.ac.uk.

PMID: 38608753
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.04.007

Abstract

Background: Prospective observational data revealed lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence with modeled replacement of saturated fatty acids (SFA) from total meat by total dairy, but it is unknown what the associations are of replacing SFA from types of meat by types of dairy with CVD incidence.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the associations of replacing SFA from total, red, processed, and poultry meat by SFA from total dairy, milk, cheese, and yogurt with the incidence of CVD.

Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data from 21,841 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk study (56.4% female; age, 40-79 years). Dietary data were collected by food frequency questionnaires at baseline (1993-1997). Incident fatal or nonfatal CVD (n = 5902), coronary artery disease (CAD; n = 4215), stroke (total: n = 2544; ischemic: n = 1113; hemorrhagic: n = 449) were identified up to 2018. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox regression for the risk associated with replacement of 2.5% of energy from SFA from meat by dairy, adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, energy, dietary, and cardiometabolic factors.

Results: Replacing SFA from total meat by total dairy was associated with a lower CVD incidence (HR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.82, 0.96) and CAD (HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.96). Replacing SFA from processed meat by cheese was associated with lower CVD (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.88); CAD (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.90), and stroke (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.99). Similarly, replacing SFA from red meat by cheese was associated with lower CVD (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.97). Higher incidence of stroke was found with replacement of SFA from poultry by milk (HR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.89), yogurt (HR: 2.55; 95% CI: 1.27, 5.13), or cheese (HR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.04, 3.70), but the CI were relatively large, owing to low, narrow range of poultry SFA intake.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that different SFA-rich foods at baseline have differential associations with CVD risk. If confirmed by further studies, these findings could be used to inform specific food-based dietary guidance.

Keywords: adults; cardiovascular disease; cheese; dairy; meat; milk; prospective study; replacement; saturated fatty acids; yogurt.