Nutrition and health.

Important differences in all-causes mortality and in cardiovascular mortality exist between populations and they cannot be explained by differences in the level of medical care. During the last 20 years important changes have occurred in the level of cardiovascular mortality with an increase in Hungary and a decrease in Japan. These rapid changes in mortality cannot be explained by genetic factors. The epidemiological evidence strongly points towards nutrition and especially to the intake of saturated fat and salt as the major determinant of the existing differences in mortality. Saturated fat also appears to be related to total cancer mortality. A major effort should be directed towards a decrease in the dietary intake of saturated fat by Western populations.