junkfood 

A ‘Western’ diet of deep fried food, sugary drinks, alcohol and red meat has long been viewed as a recipe for poor health and shortened life-span.

But a new study suggests that, when it comes to keeping the heart ticking over, it may not be so bad after-all.

A study of more than 15,000 people found that while a Mediterranean diet of fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, did lower the risk of a heart attack or stroke,

“Greater consumption of foods thought be less healthy and more typical of Western diets, was not associated with an increase in these adverse events, which we had not expected.”

Professor Ralph Stewart, Auckland City Hospital, University of Auckland

In fact, people who stuck mainly to a Mediterranean diet still had a lower risk of heart problems even when supplementing it with one or two portions of, crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks, desserts or red meat each day.

The researchers, from the University of Auckland, conclude that rather than avoiding healthy foods, people should eat more healthy foods, because they appear to have a protective effect.

“The main message is that some foods – and particularly fruit and vegetables – seem to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and this benefit is not explained by traditional risk factors such as good and bad cholesterol or blood pressure," said Professor Ralph Stewart, from Auckland City Hospital, University of Auckland, New Zealand, who led the study.

“If you eat more of these foods in preference to others, you may lower your risk. The study found no evidence of harm from modest consumption of foods such as refined carbohydrates, deep fried foods, sugars and deserts.

“The research suggests we should place more emphasis on encouraging people with heart disease to eat more healthy foods, and perhaps focus less on avoiding unhealthy foods.”

A healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and fish appears to cancel out any harmful impact of bad food

The study, which was published in the European Heart Journal, appears to prove that balance is key to keeping healthy, while a bit of ‘what you fancy’ is unlikely to do much harm. To find out the link between diet and health, the researchers asked 15,482 people with stable coronary artery disease to complete a lifestyle questionnaire detailing their intake of meat, fish, dairy foods, whole grains or refined grains, vegetables (excluding potatoes), fruit, desserts, sweets, sugary drinks, deep-fried foods and alcohol.

Points were awarded for different levels of consumption to give a ‘Mediterranean Diet Score’ (MDS) and a ‘Western Diet Score’ (WDS.) For example eating three or more pieces of fruit per day would score four points, while eating fruit less than once per week would gain 0 points.

After 3.7 years, there had been 1,588 incidences of heart attack, stroke or death, which accounted for 10.1 per cent of the original group. However only 7.3 per cent of those who scored 15 points or more on the Mediterranean Diet Score had suffered a heart event.

But there was no significant difference in death and heart attack/stroke rate for those who ate a predominately Western diet. Around 10 per cent of people involved in the study said they drank at least one fizzy drink a day, while two per cent said they ate up to two helpings of deep fried foods per day.

Prof Stewart added: “After adjusting for other factors that might affect the results, we found that every one unit increase in the Mediterranean Diet Score was associated with a seven percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes or death from cardiovascular or other causes in patients with existing heart disease.

“In contrast, greater consumption of foods thought be less healthy and more typical of Western diets, was not associated with an increase in these adverse events, which we had not expected.”

The study is contrast to NHS advice which suggests cutting down on fatty and sugary foods and alcohol.

Around 42,000 people very year die prematurely from coronary heart disease, so anything that could lower the risk would bring huge benefits to public health,

Moderate consumption of fatty goods does not raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke, say researchers

Dieticians said that new study proved that a Mediteranaean diet can help lower the risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke, but cautioned against eating too much unhealthy food.

Dr Nita Forouhi, Programme Leader, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, said: "It is good news for people with existing heart disease that this study provides evidence that a healthy ‘Mediterranean diet’ is associated with lower future cardiovascular disease risk, and that this applies across many countries and world regions, not just in the Mediterranean region. 

"On the surface it is an attractive message that greater emphasis should be on encouraging healthy foods rather than avoiding unhealthy foods, but such a conclusion is premature

“It is too early without further research to conclude convincingly about the lack of harm of unhealthy foods."

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietitian at the British Heart Foundation added: “The study reinforces existing research we have on the Mediterranean style diet that links it to a range of health benefits including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

“But we should be cautious about the suggestion from the study that greater consumption of refined carbohydrates, deep fried foods, sugars and desserts, which are more typical of Western diets, are not associated with an increase in heart attack, stroke or death.”

 Prof Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King\'s College London, said: “The study found no relationship between deep-fried foods, refined carbohydrates and sugar sweetened beverages (characteristic of a Western dietary pattern) and risk; this is of note given the recent furore over sugar but is hardly surprising as older people are not major consumers of pop.”

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