Favorite Southern Foods Deadly for People With Kidney Disease

The types of food that many Southerners seem to prefer -- fried foods, sweet drinks and processed meals -- may be deadly for people with kidney disease, a new study suggests.

A "Southern-style" diet was associated with a 50 percent greater risk of death over a 6-year period for people with kidney disease, researchers found.

The researchers believe the death risk increases because kidney patients have an impaired ability to filter out the harmful fats, sugars and minerals contained in a typical Southern diet.

"People who have kidney disease have a harder time getting rid of a lot of the substances in these types of food that are bad for you," said study lead author Dr. Orlando Gutierrez, a kidney expert at the University of Alabama School of Medicine.

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