Deep Fried Food Heightens Risk of Prostate Cancer

Deep fried food easily qualifies as a nutritionist's nightmare.  Fried food is not healthy for the body and can be dangerous in the long run. A new study has shown that deep fried foods such as doughnuts, French fries and fried chicken up the risk of prostate cancer.

The study conducted by investigators at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, noticed that men who consumed one or more of the fired foods at least weekly had 30 -37 percent increased risk of prostate cancer. Apart from this, weekly consumption was also linked to slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer.

The study was conducted on 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,492 age-matched healthy controls. While calculating the level of relation between deep fried foods and prostate cancer the researchers considered factors such as age, race, family history of prostrate cancer, BMI and PSA screening history.

"The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption defined in our study as more than once a week  which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer," author Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D, co-director of the Hutchinson Center's Program in Prostate Cancer Research, said in a press statement.

The increased risk of cancer occurs because the oil is heated at a high temperature suitable for deep frying and during this process carcinogenic compounds are formed in fried foods which increase with the re use of oil and duration of frying. Also deep fried foods have a high content of advanced glycation end products, which cause chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 230,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and around 30,000 men die annually due to related complications.