Risk of heart attack 30% higher with a Western diet

Research from Canada has shown that, compared to a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, the typical Western diet, rich in meat, fat and salt leads to a 30% higher risk of heart attack. This is regardless of where in the world the person is.

However, the Asian diet rich in tofu and soy sauce appears to have no effect on the risk of heart attack.

Salim Yusuf and colleagues from Hamilton, Ontario, publishing in the journal Circulation, used data from 5761 heart attack patients and 10 646 healthy controls taking part in the INTERHEART study, a standardized case-control investigation involving participants from 52 countries. The participants were mostly aged between 53 and 57 years. The researchers found that the eating habits of the participants as characterised by their intake across the 19 food categories, fell into three main types: Asian (high intake of tofu, plus soy and other sauces); Western (high intake of fried foods, salty snacks, eggs and meat); and prudent (high intake of fruit and vegetables).

The risk of having a heart attack was 30 per cent higher when the diet was closer to the Western style compared to the prudent style. The Asian diet appeared to have no effect on heart attack risk. The researchers suggested that the beneficial impact of tofu was cancelled out by the salt in the soy and other sauces.