How Living in a Food Desert Could Affect Your Risk of Stroke

How close you live to a grocery store may have a bigger impact on your heart health than you think. 

In late August, researchers from Tulane University published the findings of their study looking into the impacts of living in a food desert on people with atrial fibrillation in the journal JACC: Advances. And they found that people residing inside these food deserts face a dramatically higher risk of serious health problems. 

As the authors explain in their study, Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the “most common heart arrhythmia with over 59 million cases worldwide. It is also estimated that over 12 million people in the United States will have AF by 2030.” The Mayo Clinic further explains that AF is an irregular and “often very rapid heart rhythm.” During an episode of AF, the heart’s upper chambers “beat chaotically and irregularly. They beat out of sync with the lower heart chambers, called the ventricles.” The clinic added that for many people, there may be no symptoms, while in others, it can cause a “pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath, or light-headedness.” This condition, the clinic added, can “lead to blood clots in the heart. The condition also increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.” 

To better understand the effects of living in a food desert, the Tulane researchers followed more than 1,500 patients with AF residing in New Orleans between 2010 and 2019. Of that group, about 1,100 lived in neighborhoods where the closest supermarket was more than a mile away, which adheres to the official definition of a food desert laid out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The other 400 patients lived in areas with easier access to full-service grocery stores.

The team found a significant difference between these two groups of people and their health outcomes. Patients with AF in food deserts were more than twice as likely to have an ischemic stroke compared to those outside them. They were also nearly four times more likely to die within five years. And when researchers looked at a combined measure of stroke, death, and hospitalization, the risk was 42 percent higher for those living in food deserts.

“This research shows that for patients with AF, the environment they live in, the basic infrastructure of their neighborhood, can be just as important as the care they receive in the clinic,” Dr. Nassir Marrouche, director of the Tulane University Heart and Vascular Institute and senior author of the study, said in a statement. “Something as fundamental as access to healthy food could literally save lives.”

Previous studies also show a strong link between food access and health outcomes for those with AF. One 2024 study published in the journal Lifestyle, Diet and Nutritional Status in Patients with Arrhythmias explains that chronic inflammation is a “strong risk indicator of AF,” and that a diet “rich in anti-inflammatory foods can be beneficial. Moreover, a heart-healthy diet, low in sodium and high in potassium, can contribute to blood pressure control, which is also one of the risk factors for AF.” The study additionally noted that a “balanced diet” can help those with AF manage their weight, thus reducing strain on the heart. It added, “There is a growing body of evidence supporting the role of diet in the treatment of cardiovascular disease and its ensuing complications.” 

However, as a 2023 study published by the American Cancer Society found, those healthy foods are particularly hard to come by for those living in the Southeast and West, “where an excessive number of tracts with lower life expectancy were located as well.” Their research also found that those living in a food desert had a lower life expectancy overall. And that becomes all the more dire when you learn that more than 18 million Americans currently live in a food desert. 

There are, however, plenty of ways the U.S. can help improve the lives of not only people with AF, but the population overall. 

“Effective interventions to increase healthy food accessibility may help improve diet quality and population health. These may include initiatives establishing new healthy food retailers (e.g., farmers markets, grocery stores, bodegas, and mobile retailers), as well as upgrading the quality, diversity, and quantity of healthier foods at current stores,” Dr. Farhad Islami, the senior scientific director of cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society, shared. “Supporting public transportation systems that may improve geographic access to stores offering healthy foods may also be beneficial to individuals with limited income.”