Say No to Fried Food to Prevent Heart Failure
Say No to Fried Food to Prevent Heart Failure – We all like fried food, and we’ve all heard that it’s not good for our health, and this new study gives us another reason to avoid it.
The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School in Boston by researcher Dr. Luc Djousse and his team, found that if eaten regularly, fried food can increase the risk of heart failure by as much as 68%. Heart failure occurs when the heart is too weak or stiff to pump enough blood throughout the body, and this is usually caused by narrowed coronary arteries, and conditions like high blood pressure. So to prevent heart failure, you need to control and treat the conditions that lead to it with treatment and lifestyle changes.
Symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath when you do anything that’s physically exerting, fatigue and weakness, swelling in the legs, hands, and feet, weight gain from fluid retention, irregular heartbeat, persistent cough, and the need to urinate frequently at night. Severe weakness, chest pain, and sudden shortness of breath and fainting require emergency treatment.
The study was based on data collected from over 15,000 male doctors who participated in the Physicians Heath Study. The average age of the participants was 66 years, and they answered questionnaires on food consumption during a three-year period. At the end of the study, researchers found that 632 developed heart failure.
Participants who consumed fried foods 1 to 3 times a week increased their risk of heart failure by 18%, 4 to 5 times a week by 25%, and 7 or more times a week by 68%. In general, those who ate fried food were also found to eat a less healthy diet overall. The grease also adds calories to your diet and can also lead to other conditions like obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol, which can all lead to heart failure and heart disease.
Researchers say that it’s important to switch to a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains and low in saturated fat and salt. Fried foods can be indulged in once in a while, but definitely not on a daily or weekly basis.
The results of the study were presented this week at an American Heart Association meeting in Baltimore.
Category: News
