Western Diet Lifts World Heart Risk 30%

The typical Western diet accounts for about 30% of the world’s risk of heart attack, researchers have concluded. This diet includes large amounts of meat, fried food and salty snacks. The study included about 16,000 people in 52 countries. They answered questions about their eating habits. Those who followed the Western diet had a 35% higher risk of heart attack than those who did not. Other people followed a “prudent” diet, with many fruits and vegetables. Their heart attack risk was 30% lower than for those who ate few of these foods. The Oriental diet, which included tofu and soy sauce, had no effect on risk. HealthDay News wrote about the study October 20. It was in the journal Circulation.