Blogfinger

Fried, fried and cheese.

The AP (2/8, Marchione) reports, “Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke,” according to a study presented yesterday at the American Stroke Association’s conference in Honolulu. “It’s the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast – the nation’s ‘stroke belt’ – suffer more of them.”

The Los Angeles Times (2/8, MacVean, 692K) “Booster Shots” blog reports that in a statement, lead researcher, Suzanne Judd, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Alabama, explained, “Fatty foods are high in cholesterol, sugary drinks are linked to diabetes and salty foods lead to high blood pressure.” These “are all factors in the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

ABC News (2/8, Wasson)  The “researchers found that people who regularly ate foods traditionally found in the southern diet had a whopping 41 percent increased risk of stroke – and in African-Americans, it was 63 percent higher risk.”

Blogfinger Medical Commentary by Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC:

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the US.   In the 1950’s, scientists established a strong link between diets high in saturated fats and the risk of heart attacks.  It has been assumed for years that the high risk diets associated with heart disease would also be risk factors for strokes, but it hasn’t exactly been proven.  We do know that blacks have a higher risk of stroke than whites in this country, and there are risk factors which are common in blacks that clearly increase the risk of stroke including obesity,  high blood pressure and high salt intake.

But this trial of 20,000 adults 45 and older looked specifically at stroke risk related to diet.  If you are familiar with southern foods, sometimes called “soul food,”  you find a great deal of deep fried foods like chicken, fish and potatoes.  In addition there are processed meats like jerky and lunch meats, whole milk and bacon which are part of the problem.  On the other hand, plant based diets were associated with reduced stroke risk.

So now we know about dietary relationships for heart disease, cancer and stroke.  The best bet for staying healthy is a modified Mediterranean diet with low saturated fats and cholesterol, low salt, high fiber, no fried food, good oils, modest amounts of red wine,  fish, poultry, low carbs, and generous amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Stay away from processed foods and don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.