Study: Eating Fried Food Doesn't Increase Risk of Heart Disease

A new study which was recently published in the British Medical Journal found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption in Spain and the incidence of heart disease. This adds to the mounting research which suggests that it is the type of oil used and whether or not it has been used before, that really matters.

It should be noted that in Spain olive and sunflower oil are mostly used for frying. The British Heart Foundation was quick to warn its citizens not to "reach for the frying pan" just yet, and noted that the Mediterranean diet is healthier than that of England, or the U.S. for that matter.

Researchers in Spain followed more than 40,000 people, of which two-thirds were women, from the mid-1990s to 2004. Participants were asked at the outset how often they ate fried foods, either at home or while out. Then researchers looked to see whether eating fried foods regularly increased the likelihood of falling ill from having coronary heart disease.

Researchers divided participants into four groups, from lowest fried food intake to highest. They found no significant difference in heart disease. In total, there were 606 incidents linked to heart disease, but they were split pretty evenly among the four groups.

The study's authors concluded:

"In a Mediterranean country where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no association was observed between fried food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death."

The study's authors also noted that the findings could really only be extrapolated to other Mediterranean countries with similar diets, where people tend to fry "fresh" with olive and sunflower oil.