Fried Chicken Shortens The Lives Of Mature Women

Fried chicken shortens the lives of mature women

Regular consumption of fried foods after menopause increases women's risk of dying from any cause, including heart disease. Scientists claim that people's health will improve if they eat less fried foods.

Photo: maxpixel.net /

Regular consumption of fried foods after menopause increases women's risk of dying from any cause, including heart disease. This was shown by a new American study published in BMJ. Scientists claim that people's health will improve if they eat less fried foods.

The authors analyzed data from 107,000 women aged 50 to 79 who participated in the Women's Health Initiative study of heart disease, cancer and other health problems in postmenopausal women.

The women participated in the study from 1993 to 1998, and then they were followed up until February 2017. During this time, there were 31,588 deaths (9,320 heart-related, 8,358 from cancer and 13,880 from other causes).

“Overall, we found that total consumption of fried food was associated with a higher risk of all-cause death and death from cardiovascular disease,” said senior researcher Dr. Wei Bao, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public University of Iowa's College of Public Health.

After taking into account the potentially influencing factors - lifestyle, overall nutritional quality, education and income - the researchers found a link between regular consumption of fried foods and an increased risk of death from any cause.

Compared to no fried food in the diet, one or more servings per day increased this risk by 8%. When it comes to fried chicken, the risk of death from any cause increased by 13%, and from cardiovascular disease - by 12%. As for the similar consumption of fried fish / seafood, by 7% and 13%, respectively. The researchers found no evidence of any link between eating fried foods and cancer deaths.

In general, women who regularly ate fried foods were younger, non-white, with lower levels of education and income, they smoked more often, exercised less, and ate a low-quality diet.

Obesity is likely to play a significant role in the increased risk of death, according to the researchers. Women who regularly ate fried foods consumed far more calories.

But other factors can also play a role. For example, the habit of Americans eating in eateries where food is fried, usually in deep fryers, using peanut or canola oil.

“Frying at home can be different than frying outside. It is noteworthy that when we fry at home, we do not use oil many times,”said Wei Bao.

Although the study was observational and concerned only American women, the large size and diversity of the sample allows scientists to argue that fried food is a risk factor for cardiovascular death that can easily change with lifestyle.