While some foods are healthy for you, others are the complete opposite. Learn why this diet leads to a 46% increase in risk of cardiac death.
Lifestyle habits have a huge impact on your heart health – whether you’re leading a healthy life or not. Since heart disease kills 1 in 4 people in the U.S., it’s a good idea to start taking care of your heart now.
In fact, eating certain types of food can improve your heart health while others will increase your risk of dying. The following article explores a specific type of diet that can increase your risk of cardiac death by 46%.
The Killer Diet
According to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, certain types of diets can increase your risk of death from heart disease. Researchers analyzed various types of diets and their effect on mortality rates as a result of heart disease.
They tested more than 21,000 people, evaluating cardiovascular disease events every six months. Ultimately, their study shows that regularly eating a Southern-style diet increases your risk of death from heart disease by 46%.
Other Diets in the Study
A Southern-style diet includes added fats, fried foods, eggs, organ meats, processed meats, and sugary beverages. However, researchers also analyzed plant-based, convenience, Mediterranean, sweets, and “alcohol and salad” diets.
While convenience and sweets-based diets are also unhealthy, they didn’t increase the risk of death like the Southern-style diet. Convenience diets rely on pasta dishes, pizza, Mexican food, and Chinese food. A diet focusing on sweets relies on added sugar and desserts.
Eating a Heart-Healthy Diet
Out of all the diets, researchers found that the Mediterranean diet has the lowest risk of dying from heart disease. By eating this type of diet, which is full of fruits and vegetables, you can decrease your risk by 26%.
According to the results, researchers believe that diet is a modifiable risk factor for sudden cardiac death. In other words, you can decrease your risk of death if you eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish.
Adding Healthy Foods to Your Diet
According to experts, adding more fruits and vegetables to your meals is the best thing you can do. If you want to see a difference, increase your number of servings to 5 or 6 per day.
Of course, the more servings you add, the better; eating 8 to 9 servings would be optimal. As you increase healthy foods, also make sure you limit unhealthy foods like saturated fats, sodium, added sugar, and processed meat.
The Outlook
Eating nutritiously can improve your heart health while eating unhealthy foods can increase your risk of death. As you make plans to strengthen your health, make sure you avoid the Southern-style diet.
Instead, opt for healthy practices like eating a Mediterranean diet, exercising regularly, and taking L-arginine Plus. As a daily heart supplement, it works to promote your circulation, energy, blood pressure health, and more.
Try L-arginine Plus as part of a health-boosting plan that includes eating healthily and exercising regularly.