Nutrition and health: an epidemiological approach.

Large differences in mortality from all causes exist between populations. These mortality differences cannot be explained by differences in the level of medical care, of cigarette smoking, of stress, of pollution nor by genetic differences. The level of saturated fat intake is linked both to the prevalence of ischaemic heart disease and cancer. The slope of the equation linking log mortality to age can be used as an index of the aging rate of populations. This slope is significantly linked to the level of saturated fat intake. Women are more resistant to atheromatous disease presumably because they are able to raise their HDL-cholesterol levels on a diet high in saturated fat, while men cannot. Nutrition appears to be the most important determinant of mortality from all causes both between and within countries.