2012-01-25 10:43:00
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
Eating fried food may not be bad for the heart, as long as you use olive or
sunflower oil to make it, experts say.
They found no heightened risk of heart disease or premature death linked to
food that had been cooked in this way.
But the investigators stress that their findings, from studying the typical
Spanish diet in which these "healthy" oils are found in abundance, do not apply
to lard or other cooking oils.
So traditional fry ups should not be the order of the day, bmj.com reports.
Fat-laden
When food is fried it becomes more calorific because the food absorbs the fat
of the oils.
And experts know that eating lots of fat-laden food can raise blood pressure
and cause high cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease.
For the study, the researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid surveyed
40,757 adults about their diet.
The participants were asked about what types of food they ate in a typical week
and how that food was prepared and cooked.
None of the adults had any sign of heart disease at the start of the 11-year
study, but by the end of it 606 heart disease events and 1,134 deaths had
occurred.
When the researchers looked at these heart events in detail, they could find no
link with fried food in the diet.
Start Quote
Before we all reach for the frying pan, it's important to remember that this
was a study of a Mediterranean diet rather than British fish and chips
Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation
This, they believe, is down to the type of oil the food is cooked in.
The Med diet
In an accompanying editorial, Professor Michael Leitzmann from the University
of Regensburg in Germany said: "Taken together, the myth that frying food is
generally bad for the heart is not supported by available evidence.
"However, this does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no
health consequences.
"The study suggests that specific aspects of frying food are relevant, such as
the oil used, together with other aspects of the diet."
Mediterranean diets have long been hailed as healthy, being packed full of
low-fat, high-fibre fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh fish.
And numerous studies have shown a balanced diet such as this can cut the risk
of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.
Victoria Taylor, a senior heart health dietitian at the British Heart
Foundation, said: "Before we all reach for the frying pan, it's important to
remember that this was a study of a Mediterranean diet rather than British fish
and chips. Our diet in the UK will differ from Spain, so we cannot say that
this result would be the same for us too.
"Participants in this study used unsaturated fats such as olive and sunflower
oil to fry their food. We currently recommend swapping saturated fats like
butter, lard or palm oil for unsaturated fats as a way of keeping your
cholesterol down and this study gives further cause to make that switch.
"Regardless of the cooking methods used, consuming foods with high fat content
means a high calorie intake. This can lead to weight gain and obesity, which is
a risk factor for heart disease. A well-balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and
veg and only a small amount of high fat foods, is best for a healthy heart."