Differences in dietary patterns constitute a major component of the environmental changes experienced by immigrant populations, and have been associated with several diseases with contrasting prevalence rates in the USA and Japan. The Japanese preparations present very colorful dishes, with a wide variety of vegetables with little or no cooking, which preserves the nutritive value of vitamins. The present study was carried out to determine the cholesterol/saturated fat index (CSI) levels of some Japanese dishes using the following equation, developed to calculate the ratio between cholesterol and dietary saturated fatty acids: CSI=(1.01 × saturated fatty acids in g)+(0.05 × cholesterol in mg).
Fifteen Japanese recipes consumed by Japanese immigrants in São Paulo (Brazil) were prepared and analyzed for chemical composition by AOAC methods, for fatty acids profile (gas chromatography) and cholesterol (colorimetric method).
Total lipid content (g/100g) ranged from 0.10 to 16.40, with mean±SD values of 2.83±4.10. Cholesterol (mg/100g) ranged from 0 to 166.5, with mean values of 36.90±45.61. CSI values ranged from 0.0 to 9.87, with mean values of 2.76±3.19.
The habitual intake of Japanese foods available in São Paulo could be useful to achieve a limit of 30 per day for dietary CSI.
