The Toll of Fried Food on Heart Health and its Alternatives

Fried foods are a delicious part of many cuisines, but eating too many of them can have poor health effects. Do you know eating fried foods increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and premature deaths? Yes, fried foods have a major impact on our heart health. Read below to know how fried food impacts your heart health:

What impact do fried foods have on your heart?

Foods that are coated in flour and fried are often high in calories and since they taste good, which makes overeating often a temptation for many people. Also, fried foods especially those from fast-food outlets, often contain trans fats. These fats raise levels of low-density lipoprotein, or ‘bad’ cholesterol and reduce levels of helpful high-density lipoprotein or ‘good’ cholesterol. In addition, frying boosts the production of chemical by-products, which can affect the body’s inflammatory response.

Fried foods also damage the walls of your arteries by blocking them. These damaged arteries eventually develop plaque, which will cause narrowing of the artery lining and making it even harder to pump blood. When this process happens in your arteries, it is known as ‘atherosclerosis.’ Atherosclerosis puts you at increased risk for multiple heart conditions like stroke or even heart attack. So, it is better to avoid fried foods and look for healthier options.

According to a study, people who wish to improve or maintain their heart health should limit their intake of fried food to as little as possible. On the other hand, those people who have cardiovascular problems or are at risk of them should completely eliminate fried foods from their diet. Such people should opt for healthier cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, and baking, instead of frying.

We can look for certain healthier alternatives to fried foods to help those taste buds and some of them are:

• Instead of fried potato chips, we can go for baked potato or baked kale chips.
• Choose different cooking methods, for example, deep-frying involves a huge amount of calories so we can switch to the air frying method of cooking to minimize its health impacts.
• Instead of fried doughnuts, you can always bake them! Add fresh apples on the top to make them healthy.
• Samosas are another food item that you can enjoy guilt-free after baking them. Just stuff the samosas with the filling of your choice and instead of deep-frying lay them on a baking tray and cook in a microwave.

Over to you:

Eating fried foods is correlated to a higher risk of heart problems and poor heart health. Try to limit your consumption of fried foods as much as possible. However, you can always make small changes to help your fried food habit be healthier. Keeping your heart healthy also requires regular exercise and stress management, and not just about diet.