EATING a
southern-style diet rich in fried food, eggs, organ meats- such as liver- and
sugar-sweetened beverages could increase the risk of coronary heart disease,
according to the findings of a new study.
The
Southern dietary pattern in the study was characterized by fried food, eggs,
organ meats, processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The
study, published in Circulation, explores the relationship between heart
disease risk and dietary patterns. “While individual foods and nutrients
(example, red meat and saturated fat) have been studied extensively in relation
to CHD [coronary heart disease] risk, the relationship between overall diet and
CHD risk may be more informative because foods typically are eaten in
combination, not in isolation,” the authors write.
For the
study, the dietary habits of more than 17,000 white and African-American adults
aged 45 and older were compared using data obtained from the Reasons for
Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Participants were
enrolled between 2003 and 2007.
Each
participant was screened by telephone before undergoing a physical exam and
completing a food frequency questionnaire about their food consumption over the
previous year.
People
with pre-existing heart disease were excluded from the study. Over the course
of the study, participants were followed up every six months with a phone
interview, during which they were questioned about their health status.
The
follow-up period ran for nearly six years. The researchers grouped different
types of food regularly eaten by the participants into five different dietary
patterns: *”Convenience” – pasta dishes, pizza, Mexican and Chinese food
*”Plant-based” – vegetables, fruits, cereal, beans, fish, poultry and yogurt
*”Sweets” – sugars, desserts, chocolate, candy and sweetened breakfast foods
*”Alcohol/salads” – beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and
salad dressing *”Southern” – fried food, eggs, organ meats, processed meats,
added fats and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The
Southern diet is so called as it reflects a culinary pattern often observed in
the south-eastern US, particularly around states that comprise the Stroke Belt:
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
In the
Stroke Belt – which also includes the state of Indiana – stroke death rates are
more than 10 per cent higher than the national average. The Southern diet has
also been associated with an increased risk of stroke in previous research.
The
researchers found that participants who ate foods from the Southern dietary
pattern the most had a 56 per cent higher risk of coronary heart disease than
those who ate these foods less frequently.
None of
the other dietary patterns were linked with the risk of heart disease in any
way. Participants most likely to follow the Southern diet were male,
African-American, people who had not graduated from high school and the
residents of the Stroke Belt.
Lead
researcher James M. Shikany, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham, says that 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. “Try
cutting down the number of times you eat fried foods or processed meats from
every day to three days a week as a start, and try substituting baked or
grilled chicken or vegetable-based foods,” he suggests.
Last
month, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
concluded that Americans are not meeting national recommendations for
consumption of fruits and vegetables. Specifically, they found that 13.1 per
cent of adults eat enough fruits and 8.9 per cent eat enough vegetables.
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