Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass. discovered that the genetic makeup of a person can worsen the obesity-related effects of eating fried foods.
This is the first study to link the consumption of fried food to a person's genetic makeup and his risk for obesity. Lead by Lu Qi, MD from the Harvard School of Public Health, this study gathered data from 37,000 men and women from different areas in the United States.
The cohort study employed information from 9,623 women and 6,379 men, and a replica of the study involving 21,421 women more.
A genetic score was established for each person, based on the combination of their Body Mass Index (BMI) and 32 genetic variants.
Results of the study reflected that the daily consumption of fried foods is positively correlated with a high BMI. Also, they found out that overeating of fried foods and the risk of obesity are more prevalent in people whose genetic makeup makes them prone to obesity and other related diseases.
According to Dr. Qi and his team, their research shows that people who are genetically susceptible to obesity should steer away from fried food. The participants who were identified to be genetically susceptible to obesity and ate fried food experienced a two-fold effect on their BMI compared to those whose genetic makeup does not make them prone to obesity but ate the same amount of fried food.
"While we encourage everyone to reduce fried-food intakes and follow a healthy lifestyle, it appears time to consider how to integrate the novel genomic findings into our future health recommendations and practices," remarked Dr. Qi to Medscape.
Although the findings are conclusive, the researchers stated that their research would be difficult to carry out in a clinical setting.
This study was published in the March 18 issue of British Medical Journal.
