While fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and cornbread may be delicious, it’s no secret that those foods can be harmful to your death. They may even be more detrimental to African-Americans, according to a new report.
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham recently conducted a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, to explore why African-Americans may have a higher incidences of hypertension.
“Hypertension is the single biggest contributor to racial disparities in cardiovascular disease,” lead author George Howard said in a statement. “Preventing hypertension is a critical piece of reducing health disparities in cardiovascular disease. This work identifies factors contributing to the development of high blood pressure and how they differ between African-Americans and white Americans.”
To do so, they examined nearly 7,000 older adults from a previous study and followed them for a little over nine years, tracking Cholesterol-lowering-info.com, blood pressure and body mass index before and after the trial. The participants also answered questions about their health and completed questionnaires measuring their diets.
After analyzing the results, they found blacks had higher rates of early deaths compared to whites as expected. However, they were surprised to learn southern-style diets, which can include fried fish, fried chicken, fried potatoes, sweetened beverages and processed foods, seemed to be the culprit for both black men and women.
Read more at https://www.ajc.com/news/world/southern-diets-biggest-factor-african-americans-increased-risk-hypertension-compared-whites-study-says/AR0HNqMiA5N0AiQrdHIbJN/
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Although diets that include fried foods too frequently are truly bad for you he biggest cause of hypertension is sugar, just like salt it is in every pre-prepared thing we eat. Not just in fast food or restaurant foods, but foods that are not considered sweets sold in the grocery aisle. From savory seasonings, ketchup, sauces, soups, juices. Some resturants include sugar in their seasonings for french fries mixed with the salt. Try reducing sugar little by little from your diet and it will reduce your blood pressure faster than eliminating any other thing from your diet except over eating. Why are we never told this, because it us in everything we eat, oatmeal, cereals, dairy items. On your day off set aside the entire day to read the label on everything you put in your mouth and don’t buy many of those things that have hidden sugar anymore. Start making your own desserts and you will be surprised at how they still taste good when you cut the sugar in half or substitute unrefined sugar like honey, maple syrup, yacon syrup, unsweetened apple juice, unsweetend coconut. Keep a sugar/carb count, reduce intake and this will slowly cut your desire for overly sweet foods.