Diet full of fried food could increase your risk of heart failure by almost 40%, study suggests 

Diet full of fried food could increase your risk of heart failure by almost 40%, study suggests

  • Eating lots of fried food could increase risk of heart failure by 37 per cent
  • The diet is linked to having a 28 per cent higher chance of heart attacks or stroke
  • The risk rises with each weekly serving of foods like chips and fried chicken 

Eating lots of fried food could push up the risk of heart failure by 37 per cent, warn researchers.

The unhealthy diet has also been linked to other cardiovascular problems such as a 28 per cent higher chance of heart attacks or stroke. The threat of coronary heart disease was raised by 22 per cent.

The risk rises with each additional 114g weekly serving of foods like chips and fried chicken, said the study at Shenzhen University, China. It pooled data from 23 reports involving more than one million people, said the journal Heart.

Analysis showed that compared with the lowest category of weekly fried food consumption, the highest was associated with a significantly higher risk of heart problems around 10 years later.

Eating lots of fried food could push up the risk of heart failure by 37 per cent, warn researchers

It found a linear association between fried food consumption and major cardiovascular events, coronary heart disease and heart failure.

These risks substantially increased by 3 per cent, 2 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in tandem with each additional 114g weekly serving.

The researchers suggest several explanations for their findings.

Fried food typically contains high amount of dietary fat and lead to excess energy intake, which may increase the risk of heart issues.

One study analysed as part of the research found those who at fried food four or more times a week had a 37 per cent higher chance of being obese – which is known to lead to heart problems.

The risk rises with each additional 114g weekly serving of foods like chips and fried chicken, said the study at Shenzhen University, China

The risk rises with each additional 114g weekly serving of foods like chips and fried chicken, said the study at Shenzhen University, China 

Secondly, fried foods contain harmful trans-fatty acids from the hydrogenated vegetable oils often used to cook them.

Fried food is usually high in added salt content, and are often accompanied by sugar-sweetened drinks, particularly when served in fast food restaurants, the researchers added.

They concluded: ‘Our study provided evidence for the adverse effects of consuming friend food on cardiovascular disease and can be useful for dietary guidelines.

‘The World Health Organisation suggested limiting fried food consumption to reduce the amount of total fat intake and industrially produced trans-fatty acid intake for a healthy diet.

‘However, no dietary guideline is approved for the specific effect of fried food consumption on cardiovascular disease.’