Deep-fried dangers

Americans are obsessed with fried food -- from Wisconsin’s deep-fried cheese curds to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Oysters (actually bulls’ testicles). It seems that there’s nothing that Americans won’t throw into a pot of hot oil. Unfortunately, you’re throwing your good health into that pot of trouble, too.

A 2021 review of 17 studies showed that folks who ate the most fried food had a 28% increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. And data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study found that having fried food just once a week substantially ups your risk of Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

Now, a new animal study indicates that foods cooked in reused deep-fry oil (and, oh boy, do restaurants reuse it!) disrupts liver-gut-brain connections, causing neurodegenerative disease. That means that the increase in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s could be related to the 40 pounds of French fries the average U.S. adult eats every year.

Reusing oil changes it chemically, increasing acrylamides that boost your cancer risk and exposing you to other chemicals that raise blood lipid levels and increase inflammation. (Coming soon: How to track your inflation level at home without a blood test.)

Alternatives to deep frying include using an air fryer (but it still increases acrylamides, and please don’t use it for red or processed meats). Other techniques are steaming, poaching, or sauteing your proteins and vegetables. Check out iherb.com’s blog “Are Air Fryers Better For Health?” and the recipes in “The What to Eat When Cookbook.”