Saturated Fat Intake and Cardiovascular Disease in Japanese Population

The evidence for the impact of saturated fat intake on cardiovascular disease remains inconsistent. One reason for this inconsistency may be the large difference in the distribution of saturated fat intake between the East and West. In this review, we focus on the published literature on this topic among Japanese population. Three studies have examined the link between saturated fat intake and intraparenchymal hemorrhage, consistently showing an inverse association. However, the association for ischemic stroke is less clear, although it is generally inverse. As for myocardial infarction, the findings in Japanese studies are inconsistent, as are those of Western studies. The JPHC study, however, found a positive association, the first report in Asia. Taken together with the results of the JPHC and Western studies, a saturated fat intake of around 20 g/day (approximately 10% of total energy) may be optimal, which corresponds to 200 g of milk a day and 150 g of meat every other day.