Fried Foods and Sugary Drinks Are Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death

New research has found that regular intake of southern-style diet foods may increase the risk of cardiac death whereas the Mediterranean diet is about to reduce the risk of a cardiac death rate. Researchers have proved that diet plays an important role in one’s cardiac health. Discover what do the researchers say about the southern diet and Mediterranean diet.

A person’s heart health can be improved by changing their diet. According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), people should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, a variety of proteins, and unsaturated fats. 

Research shows that the Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, and legumes, which can protect you against cardiovascular disease and cardiac death. Whereas the Southern diet contains added fats, fried foods, eggs, organ meats (such as liver or giblets), processed meats (such as deli meat, bacon, and hot dogs), and sugar-sweetened beverages that can increase the risk of cardiac death. 

The study included participants of more than 21,000 people aged 45 and up with and without a history of coronary heart disease. The analysis found that 56% of the participants were women, 33% were Black adults, and 56% lived in the Southeastern United States, which is notable because the region is known as the Stroke Belt due to its higher stroke death rate.

Participants were asked how frequently and in what amounts they had consumed in the previous year. The researchers collected baseline health and demographic information from the participants and asked them to complete a food frequency questionnaire each year to show how many of 110 different food items they had eaten in the previous year.

The researchers discovered that participants who adhered to the Southern dietary pattern the most closely had a 46 percent higher risk of sudden cardiac death than those who adhered to it the least closely. Participants who adhered most closely to the Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, were 26 percent less likely to die from a heart attack than those who adhered the least.

Researchers concluded the study by declaring that diet may be a modifiable risk factor for sudden cardiac death, making it a risk factor over which we have some control.