The study characterized a Southern-style diet as one that involves people eating a lot of fried foods, fatty foods, eggs, processed meat and organ meats.

Studying a Southern-style diet

The review appeared in the BMJ two days after a study showing an increased risk of heart disease among people who eat a Southern-style diet appeared on-line Aug. 10 in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. The study characterized a Southern-style diet as one that involves people eating a lot of fried foods, fatty foods, eggs, processed meat and organ meats.

The study of more than 17,000 white and African American adults found people who most often ate foods conforming to the Southern dietary pattern had a 56% higher risk of heart disease compared to those who ate it less frequently. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition funded the study, which involved researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Results from the study in the BMJ more closely were aligned with the A.H.A.’s trans fat guidance. The researchers examined 20 primary reports of associations between total trans fats and the health outcomes in prospective cohort studies published between 1996 and 2015. They found a 2% increase in energy from trans fats is associated with a 25% increased risk of coronary heart disease and a 31% increase in coronary heart disease mortality.