Is change in saturated fat intake associated with progression of carotid and femoral intima-media thickness , and with levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1?
Decreased SFA intake may reduce progression of atherosclerosis, as assessed by IMT, and is associated with reduced levels of sICAM-1 after 2 years. Further research using randomised placebo-controlled trials is necessary to exclude potential confounding variables and to confirm causality.
The subjective evaluation of salty foods intake did not predict the 4-year risk of incident hypertension in this study population. Further investigations with a longer follow-up period are needed to clarify whether the present insignificant results are maintained for more than 4 years.