--- title: Fried Foods May Cause Diabetes and Heart Disease description: Eating fried foods could raise your risk for several life-threatening diseases. But not all frying oils may pose the same health risks canonical: https://time.com/2907248/fried-food-linked-to-diabetes-and-heart-disease-with-an-asterisk/ author: Markham Heid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-20T19:44:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T07:43:56.367Z article:section: Health og:title: Fried Foods May Cause Type-2 Diabetes and Heart Disease og:description: New Harvard University research has the scoop og:url: https://time.com/2907248/fried-food-linked-to-diabetes-and-heart-disease-with-an-asterisk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5fe76cc853ddc06/698698a835ba6f367ec02b3a/fried-food-obesity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3307 og:image:height: 1860 og:image:alt: A server carries a tray with a hamburger and french fries at Bolt Burgers in Washington, DC on February 25, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fried Foods May Cause Type-2 Diabetes and Heart Disease twitter:description: New Harvard University research has the scoop twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5fe76cc853ddc06/698698a835ba6f367ec02b3a/fried-food-obesity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Fried Food Linked to Diabetes and Heart Disease—With an Asterisk > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Jun 20, 2014 7:44 PM UTC  A server carries a tray with a hamburger and french fries at Bolt Burgers in Washington, DC on February 25, 2014. A server carries a tray with a hamburger and french fries at Bolt Burgers in Washington, DC on February 25, 2014. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Jun 20, 2014 7:44 PM UTC The more fried food you eat, the more likely you are to suffer from Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, reveals [new research](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2014/06/18/ajcn.114.084129.abstract?papetoc). But goodies fried in some trans-fat-free oils—now offered at many restaurants since FDA [cracked down on trans fats](http://healthland.time.com/2013/11/07/fda-to-ban-artery-clogging-trans-fats/)—may not present the same health hazards. A U.S.-based study team analyzed diet and disease data collected from more than 100,000 men and women. Compared to people who ate fried food less than once a week, those who gobbled things like fries, fried chicken, or other deep-fried snacks four to six times a week saw their risk for Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease jump 39% and 23%, respectively. The risks rose even more for people who ate fried food on a daily basis. Cooking oil tends to break down during the frying process—a chemical transformation that changes the oil’s fatty acid composition, explains study co-author Leah Cahill, a research fellow in nutritional sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health. Foods simmering in that degraded oil absorb fatty acids and other unhealthy compounds. That’s a problem, because those acids and compounds contribute to ballooning waist lines, unhealthy cholesterol and blood pressure changes, and higher levels of oxidative stress—all of which could explain the links between fried food consumption and higher rates of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, Cahill says. Still, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for fried-food fans. Cahill says past research has hinted that trans fat-free cooking oils may not pose the same health risks. Cooking at home with fresh oils might also limit your exposure to unhealthy compounds, she adds. Unfortunately, at this point Cahill says it’s impossible to say which fried foods are safe and which are not. “I wish I could give more-specific recommendations when it comes to healthy cooking oils. But our study is really a first take, and we need to know more before we can say what’s safe.” While Cahill and other nutrition scientists sort things out, her research suggests you’re better off limiting your fried food intake—especially away from home, where oils are more likely to be reused. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2907248/fried-food-linked-to-diabetes-and-heart-disease-with-an-asterisk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2907248/fried-food-linked-to-diabetes-and-heart-disease-with-an-asterisk/"},"headline":"Fried Food Linked to Diabetes and Heart Disease—With an Asterisk","datePublished":"2014-06-20T19:44:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T07:43:56.367Z","description":"Eating fried foods could raise your risk for several life-threatening diseases. 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