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The Journal of Nutrition

Saturated and trans fats not linked to higher death risk in Japan

An observational study followed 90,807 Japanese adults for 18.9 years on average, finding neither fat linked to higher mortality in this relatively low-intake population.

Paper by Kumiko Kito, Junko Ishihara, Ayaka Kotemori, +9 more authorsNorie Sawada
Figure 1 from The Journal of Nutrition
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Figure 1. Kito et al., CC BY

Our read

Populations
Studied:
Cohort study of 90,807 Japanese adults aged 45–74, mean 18.9 years (Dose-response)
What changed:
Death from any cause did not differ with higher saturated or trans fat intake
The catch:
Dietary intake was assessed using self-reported food frequency questionnaires
In the record:
One of 7 papers on monounsaturated fatty acid intake on record: 4 with results in people.
Why it’s aging research:
It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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The observational cohort study included 90,807 Japanese adults aged 45–74 with no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Participants reported their diets through a validated food questionnaire. Researchers compared mortality across five intake groups for each type of fat in this population with relatively low fat intakes.

During an average follow-up of 18.9 years, 22,618 participants died. Higher saturated or trans fat intake was not associated with a higher risk of death from any cause. This also held for trans fats from industrial sources. The authors also reported a tentative association between higher polyunsaturated fat intake and lower mortality from any cause in women.

Why it matters

The findings bear on how dietary fat relates to longevity in populations with relatively low fat intakes.

Caveats

This observational study relied on self-reported diets and cannot establish cause and effect or prove an absence of risk. The findings do not necessarily apply to higher-intake populations or people with prior cancer or cardiovascular disease.

Where the evidence stands

Monounsaturated fatty acid intake

Humans: a single group. Cells, worms or flies and mice: nothing yet.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

  • 4 independent labs in 2 countries
  • Funders: Government of Japan Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare and 8 more

Polyunsaturated fatty acid intake

Humans: a single group. Cells, worms or flies and mice: nothing yet.

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

  • 3 independent labs in 2 countries
  • Funders: Government of Japan Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare and 1 more
  • 1 of 3 findings with company ties

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