19 year study shows that the risk of death decreases as saturated fat consumption increases

This study was published in Nutrition and Metabolism 2014 Mar 6;11(1):12

 

Study title and authors:

Dietary intakes of fat and total mortality among Japanese populations with a low fat intake: the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study.

Wakai K, Naito M, Date C, Iso H, Tamakoshi A; JACC Study Group.

Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-8550, Japan. wakai@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24597664

This study aimed to elucidate associations between dietary fat and total mortality. The study included 58,672 men and women, aged 40 to 79 years, who were followed for 19.3 years.

Regarding saturated fat, the study found:
(a) Men who consumed the highest amounts of saturated fat had a 2% reduced risk of death from any cause compared to men who consumed the lowest amounts of saturated fat.
(b) Men who consumed the highest amounts of saturated fat had a 7% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular diseases compared to men who consumed the lowest amounts of saturated fat.
(c) Women who consumed the highest amounts of saturated fat had a 9% reduced risk of death from any cause compared to women who consumed the lowest amounts of saturated fat.
(d) Women who consumed the highest amounts of saturated fat had a 1% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular diseases compared to women who consumed the lowest amounts of saturated fat.