The roles of animal, fat and sweeteners (mono- and disaccharides) in acute myocardial infarction and other ischemic heart disease are examined through multl-country statistical associations between the dietary components and the heart disease mortality rates for 1986 for males andfenales aged 35-74 in 33 countries. For both acute myocardial infarction and other ischemic heart disease, it is found that dietary animal fat is the primary dietary macroniitrient risk factor for mortality among males, with some contribution from sweeteners, while sweeteners are found to be the primary dietary macro nutrient risk factor for females.

Similar results are found for time-variations of coronary heart disease in Spain, 1965-1990. The likely mecha- nism linking sweeteners to heart disease is that it raises serum triglycerides and, hence, very low density lipoprotein level.:-;. Similar results were reported in the 1960s, but only for males. While these results appear to be '.bust, others may want to reexamine these ridings through other approaches.