Who wouldn't love chomping on fried chicken and other fried foods? Well, a new study says that eating more of fried chicken and other southern diet foods increases the risk of cardiovascular disease specifically heart attack.
According to a new study published in the journal Circulation, the fondness of eating buttery and fried foods could raise the risk of heart attack. Heart attack is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in the United States alone, 610,000 people die of heart disease every year - that's 1 in every 4 deaths.
The researchers compared the dietary habits of both white and African-American adults from the different states and regions in the United States. Thus, the authors wrote in their report as reported by Medical News Today, "While individual foods and nutrients like red meat and saturated fat have been studied extensively in relation to CHD risk, the relationship between overall diet and CHD risk may be more informative because foods typically are eaten in combination, not in isolation."
Furthermore, after acquiring the dietary habits of participants ages 45 and older, they compared these to the data which included the Reasons for Geographical and Racial Differences in Stroke or REGARDS study.
In the results of the study, they found five distinct patterns in the dietary habits of the participants as reported by Forbes. First, most of them practice the southern pattern or foods which included buttery or fried foods, processed meats, eggs, bacon, ham, organ meat like liver and sugary drinks.
They also had the convenience pattern or fondness for ready-to-eat foods like pasta dishes, Mexican or Chinese foods, and pizza. Plant-based pattern entailed eating higher amounts of fruits, vegetables, wheat, cereals, beans, poultry and fish. Sweets pattern, as its name entails, is the fondness over sweets like candies, added sugars, desserts, sweetened breakfast foods. Lastly, Alcohol/Salad pattern included beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables and salad dressings.
Hence, the results of the study determined that those who practiced the Southern diet had 56% increased risk of having a heart attack and this has been adjusted based on race, age and sex of the participants.Financial Express reports that the researchers found out that there is lesser risk for people who take these kinds of foods less frequently.
Lead researcher James M. Shikany, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham said, "People who frequently eat a Southern-style diet should be aware of the risk of heart disease and try to make gradual changes to their diet, regardless of gender, race or where they live."