American Diet raises Risk for Heart Attack by 30 Percent

The typical Amercian diet that consists of fried foods, meat and salty snack foods can up a persons risk for a heart attack by 30 percent. A study that looked at the dietary habits of 52 countries was reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The researchers divided up the groups into three dietary patterns:

1. Oriental dietary pattern which included a higher intake of tofu, soy and other sauces.

2. The Prudent dietary pattern consists of a higher intake of fruits and vegetables.

3. Western dietary pattern had a higher intake of eggs, meat, fried foods, and salty snacks.

The researchers found the Prudent dietary pattern had the lowest risk for heart attacks than even the Oriental dietary pattern.

Other studies have correlated an increased risk for a Western diet compared to the Prudent pattern, but in this research they have included the Oriental group to further see how diets and heart attack risk coincide. The prudent diet is what the American Heart Association recommends.

The researchers used data from the INTERHEART study which assessed different risk factors for heart attacks. The study included 16,000 participants from 52 countries. In this study they analyzed 5,761 heart attack cases and compared them with 10,646 participants that were know to have heart disease. They then created a dietary risk score questionnaire for these heart attack patients which were given by trained medical personnel. They asked questions about healthy food items, such as eating fruits and vegetables, to eating unhealthy food items such as fried foods and salty snacks.

Based on the dietary score the researchers conclude that there was a 30 percent increased risk for having a heart attack because of what they ate. Those that ate the Prudent diet of more fruits and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack than people that ate very little of these foods. The Western diet had the greatest risk for having a heart attack with a 35 percent chance when comparing to those that ate very little fried foods or meat. The Oriental dietary pattern had showed no relationship to having a heart attack risk.

The researchers caution however, that the Oriental dietary pattern may have higher sodium contents found in soy sauces which may increase cardiovascular risk, while at the same time there are some protective foods taken into their diet, which can end up canceling each other out.

The researchers concluded that eating more fruits and vegetables can help to reduce the risk for having a heart attack.