Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Consumption of fried foods and risk of atrial fibrillation in the Physicians' Health Study

  • Original Contribution
  • Published:
European Journal of Nutrition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequently encountered cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice. While fried food consumption is common in United States, little is known about the association between fried food consumption and incident AF.

Methods

We prospectively examined the association of fried food consumption with incident AF in 18,941 US male physicians. Fried food consumption was assessed via a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Incident AF was ascertained through yearly follow-up questionnaires. Cox regression was used to estimate relative risks of AF.

Results

The average age at baseline was 66 ± 9 years. During a mean follow up of 9.0 ± 3.0 years, 2099 new cases of AF occurred. Using < 1/week of fried food consumption as the reference group, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios ( 95% confidence interval) for AF were 1.07 (0.97, 1.18) and 1.03 (0.91, 1.17), for people reporting an average fried food consumption of 1–3/week and ≥ 4/week, respectively, p linear trend 0.4. In a secondary analysis, the results did not change after exclusion of participants with prevalent coronary heart disease or congestive heart failure. Lastly, the source of fried food (away from home or at home) did not influence the relation of fried food with AF risk.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our study does not provide evidence for an association between fried food consumption and incident AF among US male physicians.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. January CT, Wann LS, Alpert JS, Calkins H, Cigarroa JE, Cleveland JC Jr, Conti JB, Ellinor PT, Ezekowitz MD, Field ME, Murray KT, Sacco RL, Stevenson WG, Tchou PJ, Tracy CM, Yancy CW, ACC, AHA Task Force Members, (2014) 2014 AHA/ACC/HRS guideline for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation: executive summary: a report of the Amercian College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on practice guidelines and the Heart Rhythm Society. Circulation 130:2071–2104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wolf PA, Benjamin EJ, Belanger AJ, Kannel WB, Levy D, D'Agostino RB (1996) Secular trends in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation: the Framingham Study. Am Heart J 131:790–795

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Psaty BM, Manolio TA, Kuller LH, Kronmal RA, Cushman M, Fried LP, White R, Furberg CD, Rautaharju PM (1997) Incidence of and risk factors for atrial fibrillation in older adults. Circulation 96:2455–2461

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Krahn AD, Manfreda J, Tate RB, Mathewson FA, Cuddy TE (1995) The natural history of atrial fibrillation: incidence, risk factors, and prognosis in the Manitoba Follow-Up Study. Am J Med 98:476–484

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hodgkinson JA, Taylor CJ, Hobbs FD (2011) Predictors of incident atrial fibrillation and influence of medications: a retrospective case-control study. Br J Gen Pract 61:e353–e361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Frost L, Hune LJ, Vestergaard P (2005) Overweight and obesity as risk factors for atrial fibrillation or flutter: the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study. Am J Med 118:489–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gami AS, Pressman G, Caples SM, Kanagala R, Gard JJ, Davison DE, Malouf JF, Ammash NM, Friedman PA, Somers VK (2004) Association of atrial fibrillation and obstructive sleep apnea. Circulation 110:364–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Aviles RJ, Martin DO, Apperson-Hansen C, Houghtaling PL, Rautaharju P, Kronmal RA, Tracy RP, Van Wagoner DR, Psaty BM, Lauer MS, Chung MK (2003) Inflammation as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation. Circulation 108:3006–3010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dublin S, Glazer NL, Smith NL, Psaty BM, Lumley T, Wiggins KL, Page RL, Heckbert SR (2010) Diabetes mellitus, glycemic control, and risk of atrial fibrillation. J Gen Intern Med 25:853–858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Watanabe H, Tanabe N, Yagihara N, Watanabe T, Aizawa Y, Kodama M (2011) Association between lipid profile and risk of atrial fibrillation. Circ J 75:2767–2774

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Hu FB, Willett WC (2002) Optimal diets for prevention of coronary heart disease. JAMA 288:2569–2578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Korre M, Tsoukas MA, Frantzeskou E, Yang J, Kales SN (2014) Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health Promotion. Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep 8:416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Defagó MD, Elorriaga N, Irazola VE, Rubinstein AL (2014) Influence of food patterns on endothelial biomarkers: a systematic review. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich) 16:907–913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Nanri H, Nakamura K, Hara M, Higaki Y, Imaizumi T, Taguchi N, Sakamoto T, Horita M, Shinchi K, Tanaka K (2011) Association between dietary pattern and serum C-reactive protein in Japanese men and women. J Epidemiol 21:122–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Patanè S, Marte F, La Rosa FC, La Rocca R (2010) Atrial fibrillation associated with chocolate intake abuse and chronic salbutamol inhalation abuse. Int J Cardiol 145:e74–e76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zoni-Berisso M, Lercari F, Carazza T, Domenicucci S (2014) Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation: European perspective. Clin Epidemiol 6:213–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Donfrancesco C, Lo Noce C, Brignoli O, Riccardi G, Ciccarelli P, Dima F, Palmieri L, Giampaoli S (2008) Italian network for obesity and cardiovascular disease surveillance: a pilot project. BMC Fam Pract 9:53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cheng M, Hu Z, Lu X, Huang J, Gu D (2014) Caffeine intake and atrial fibrillation incidence: dose response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Can J Cardiol 30:48–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Iqbal R, Anand S, Ounpuu S, Islam S, Zhang X, Rangarajan S, Chifamba J, Al-Hinai A, Keltai M, Yusuf S; INTERHEART Study Investigators (2008) Dietary patterns and the risk of acute myocardial infarction in 52 countries: results of the INTERHEART study. Circulation 118:1929–1937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Guallar-Castillón P, Rodríguez-Artalejo F, Lopez-Garcia E, León-Muñoz LM, Amiano P, Ardanaz E, Arriola L, Barricarte A, Buckland G, Chirlaque MD, Dorronsoro M, Huerta JM, Larrañaga N, Marin P, Martínez C, Molina E, Navarro C, Quirós JR, Rodríguez L, Sanchez MJ, González CA, Moreno-Iribas C (2012) Consumption of fried foods and risk of coronary heart disease: Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. BMJ 344:e363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Christen WG, Gaziano JM, Hennekens CH (2000) Design of Physicians' Health Study II–a randomized trial of beta-carotene, vitamins E and C, and multivitamins, in prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and eye disease, and review of results of completed trials. Ann Epidemiol 10:125–134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Steering Committee of the Physicians’ Health Study Research Group (1989) Final report on the aspirin component of the ongoing Physicians’ Health Study. N Engl J Med 321: 129–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Aizer AGJ, Cook NR, Manson JE, Buring JE, Albert CM (2009) Relation of Vigorous exercise to risk of atrial fibrillation. Am J Cardiol 103:1572–1577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Djoussé L, Driver JA, Gaziano JM (2009) Relation between modifiable lifestyle factors and lifetime risk of heart failure. JAMA 302:394–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Djousse L, Gaziano JM (2007) Alcohol consumption and risk of heart failure in the Physicians' Health Study I. Circulation 115:34–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Mozaffarian D, Psaty BM, Rimm EB, Lemaitre RN, Burke GL, Lyles MF, Lefkowitz D, Siscovick DS (2004) Fish intake and risk of incident atrial fibrillation. Circulation 110:368–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gadiraju TV, Patel Y, Gaziano JM, Djoussé L (2015) Fried Food consumption and cardiovascular health: a review of current evidence. Nutrients 7(10):8424–8430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Candela M, Astiasaran I, Bello J (1998) Deep-fat frying modifies high-fat fish lipid fraction. J Agric Food Chem 46:2793–2796

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Williams MJ, Sutherland WH, McCormick MP, de Jong SA, Walker RJ, Wilkins GT (1999) Impaired endothelial function following a meal rich in used cooking fat. J Am Coll Cardiol 15(33):1050–1055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Ross R (1993) The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: a perspective for the 1990s. Nature 362:801–809

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Sorensen KE, Celermajer DS, Georgakopoulos D, Hatcher G, Betteridge DJ, Deanfield JE (1994) Impairment of endothelium-dependent dilation is an early event in children with familial hypercholesterolemia and is related to the lipoprotein(a) level. J Clin Invest 3:50–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Clarkson P, Celermajer DS, Donald AE, Sampson M, Sorensen KE, Adams M, Yue DK, Betteridge DJ, Deanfield JE (1996) Impaired vascular reactivity in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is related to disease duration and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. J Am Coll Cardiol 28:573–579

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the participants in the PHS for their outstanding commitment and cooperation and to the entire PHS staff for their expert and unfailing assistance. This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R21 HL088081 to L.D.). The Physicians' Health Study is supported by Grants CA-34944, CA-40360 and CA-097193 from the National Cancer Institute and grants HL-26490, and HL-34595, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD. Funding agencies play no role in the data collection, analysis and manuscript preparation. Acknowledgement to all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship: N/A.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, St John Hospital and Medical Center, 22101 Moross Road, Detroit, MI, 48236, USA

    Owais Khawaja, Hiroshi Yamasaki & Sohail A. Hassan

  2. Divisions of Aging, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Howard D. Sesso, Jiaying Chen, John M. Gaziano & Luc Djoussé

  3. Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Howard D. Sesso & John M. Gaziano

  4. Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology and Research Information Center (MAVERIC), Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    John M. Gaziano & Luc Djoussé

Authors
  1. Owais Khawaja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Howard D. Sesso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiaying Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hiroshi Yamasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sohail A. Hassan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. John M. Gaziano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Luc Djoussé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Owais Khawaja.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares that they have no competing interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khawaja, O., Sesso, H.D., Chen, J. et al. Consumption of fried foods and risk of atrial fibrillation in the Physicians' Health Study. Eur J Nutr 59, 935–940 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-01952-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-01952-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation