IT MAY the takeaway of choice for the Irish public but deep-fried foods like fish and chips could be increasing your risk of an early death.
That’s according to the findings of a study published by the British Medical Journal which warns that one serving or more of any fried food like chips, fried chicken or fried fish on a daily basis could increase your risk of death by 8%.
There was grave news for fans of the chipper with the findings indicating that one or more servings of fried fish or shellfish a day carried a 7% higher risk of death from any cause along with a 13% higher risk of heart-related death.
Fried chicken carried an even bigger 13% risk of death from any cause and a 12% higher risk of heart-related death compared to a diet containing no fried food.
A total of 106,966 women aged 50 to 79 who enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative study between 1993 and 1998 were monitored as part of the research,
Over the course of an averaged 18-year follow-up 31,558 died, including 9,320 from heart problems, 8,358 from cancer and 13,880 as a result of other causes.
The findings proved the same even when factors like exercise levels were factored in.
“Frequent consumption of fried foods, especially fried chicken and fried fish/shellfish, was associated with a higher risk of all cause and cardiovascular mortality in women in the US,” The study’s authors, led by a team from the University of Iowa, concluded.
“We have identified a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality that is readily modifiable by lifestyle and cooking choices.
“Reducing the consumption of fried foods, especially fried chicken and fried fish/shellfish, could have a clinically meaningful effect across the public health spectrum.”
The study found women who ate the most fried food tended to be younger, non-white, less educated and on a lower income.
Those subjects that atethe most fried foods also tended to eat fewer vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
They also consumed more sugary drinks, nuts, salt and red and processed meat.
No specific link was identified between cancer deaths and eating fried foods though.
See More: Cancer, Fish And Chips, Fried Chicken, Health
