Traditional ‘Southern diet’ linked to increase risk of stroke

A new study has concluded that a ‘traditional Southern diet’ greatly increases the risk of stroke:

February 8, 2013

Traditional Southern Diet Linked to Strokes: Are We Surprised?…

The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Suzanna Judd, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Alabama, is the first large-scale effort to look at how a diet of fried chicken, bacon, ham and sweet teas can raise the possibility of stroke. Judd and colleagues medically assessed 20,000 patients aged 45 and older…Although previous research indicated that Southerners are about 20 percent more likely to have a stroke than people who live in the rest of the country, this study showed that the frequency of stroke was proportional to the consumption of a southern diet. In fact, people who ate Southern food six times per week had about a 41 percent higher risk of stroke, compared with people who just ate Southern food once per month. In addition, the study found that the diet accounted for 63 percent of the higher risk of stroke among African Americans, compared with white Americans. http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/4836/20130208/traditional-southern-diet-linked-strokes-surprised.htm

Eating Southern Foods Linked To Higher Risk Of Stroke

February 8, 2013…

Researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham believe this is the first large-scale study that examines the connection between stroke and Southern foods. The items that the team of investigators looked at included bacon, fried fish, fried potatoes, fried chicken, ham, liver, gizzards along with sugary drinks like sweet tea…

“We’ve got three major factors working together in the Southern-style diet to raise risks of cardiovascular disease: fatty foods are high in cholesterol, sugary drinks are linked to diabetes and salty foods lead to high blood pressure,” noted the study’s lead researcher Suzanne Judd…

On the other hand, the team of investigators discovered that individuals with the highest consumption of fruits, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains had a 29 percent lower stroke risk than individuals who had the lowest consumption of these types of food. http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112780214/stroke-risk-linked-to-southern-foods-020813/

Southern Diet Might Explain the ‘Stroke Belt’…

These differences in stroke risk were found even after the researchers took into account whether they smoked, exercised or had a history of heart disease.

It remains possible, however, that other health aspects — such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure — were different between these groups, either because they ate more Southern diet foods or because of other lifestyle differences that could have contributed to variations in stroke risk, Judd said.

The researchers also found that a plant-based diet could protect against strokes. The participants in the top three quartiles had between 15 percent and 26 percent lower stroke risk than those who consumed only fruits and veggies about once a week, Judd said. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/02/07/southern-diet-might-explain-the-stroke-belt?page=2

The results are not surprising. I would also add that in various households, the use of lard (from pigs) is often been traditionally used to fry foods like chicken. The high consumption of pork products (bacon, ham, and lard) that the Bible condemns (Leviticus 11:7-8); Deuteronomy 14:8), combined with the high consumption of sweets (that the Bible seems to warn about, cf. Proverbs 25:27; Isaiah 55:2 ) is dangerous and this study helps provide additional proof of that.

Of course, if humans followed biblical injunctions about not eating swine, there would be less of other health problems as well. (Pigs transmit a variety of diseases to humans, including potentially deadly ones–for more details, please see The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats and Pigs May Spread Deadly Ebola Virus). Pigs themselves may be a factor in some of the pestilences to come.

The USA itself has problems from eating too much of the wrong foods. Hopefully, those in other lands will also pay attention to this study and make dietary changes so that they can reduce their own risk of strokes and other diseases.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous?
UK Study Supports Daniel Diet Daniel and his companions looked better eating more vegetables and avoiding strange meats. Has modern science confirmed this?
Obesity and Prophecy Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned?
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when?