Southern Diet Increases Heart Disease Risk

Although it sounds obvious, a study has now confirmed that the Southern diet or meals that are mainly fried or high in fat is directly related to an individual's heightened risk to cardiovascular diseases.

Forbes Magazine reports that based on the findings of researchers from the University of Alabama, out of 17,000 healthy Americans with the age 45 and over and have never experienced any heart diseases in their life, most of them have been following a Southern diet and 56 percent of them will more than likely experience coronary heart disease later in life. Furthermore, Southern diet eaters are also noted to be highly at risk of developing hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.

This is based on the analysis of their eating habits, wherein the researchers have discovered five significant patterns - the Southern pattern or meals which include fried food, eggs, processed meat and sugary drinks; the Convenience pattern which includes Mexican food, Chinese take-outs, pizza, and pasta dishes; the Sweets pattern which basically involves adding sugars, desserts, candies, and the like to a meal; the Plant-based pattern which includes vegetables, beans, cereals and fruits; and lastly, the Alcohol and Salad pattern, wherein people incorporate green leafy vegetables with wine and beer.

Reuters adds that according to lead researcher James Shikany, if the eating habits of individuals match closely to the Southern pattern, then the likelihood of those individuals experiencing a heart attack is at 37 percent for the next six years as the data states that there had been 536 cases of heart attacks resulting to fatality.

The link has remained significantly strong even after the varying factors, such as age, education, blood pressure and weight, have been taken into consideration. The other four patterns have not imposed any essential risks but Shikany states that it doesn't give an individual free-range to eating all the Convenience food he wants.

However, Vocativ reports that the National Cancer Institute is unimpressed by the findings because the parameters used for the Southern diet have been too arbitrary. The researchers from the institute states that unless the strategies of gathering data can be compared and the construction of the five patterns has become the standards, then the findings of the studies are yet to be confirmed and put to consideration.

Heart diseases, particularly coronary heart disease, has been taking more than 350,000 lives on a yearly basis and although the American Heart Association has stated that there has been a decline in the numbers of casualties, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still believes proper diet, regular workout, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoidance of smoking can prevent heart diseases from developing.