New research by Canadian scientists says junk food causes a third of all heart attacks and it is diets heavy in fried foods, salty snacks and meat which are the culprits.
The study by researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, included 52 countries and showed that people who ate a "Western" diet based on meat, eggs and junk food were more likely to have heart attacks, while those who ate more fruits and vegetables had a lower risk.
The research adds to growing evidence that show junk food and animal fats can cause heart disease, in particular heart attacks.
Dr. Salim Yusuf and colleagues questioned more than 16,000 patients, 5,700 of whom had just suffered a first heart attack, they took blood samples and had each patient fill out a detailed form on their eating habits between February 1999 and March 2003 and then divided the volunteers into three groups - 'Oriental', 'Western' and 'prudent'.
The 'Oriental' group earned its label because of high levels of tofu and soy and other sauces in the diets.
The 'Western' was so-called because of its high loading on fried food, salty snacks, and meat intake - while the group labeled 'prudent' ate high levels of fruit and vegetables in their diet.
The researchers found that people who ate more fruits and vegetables had a 30% lower risk of heart attack compared to people who ate little or none of these foods - by comparison people eating a Western diet had a 35% greater risk of heart attack, while those eating the "Oriental" diet had an average risk of heart attack compared to the others.