The fried foods, added fats, eggs, organ meats, processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks of a Southern-style diet can have dire consequences for people’s hearts, reports the American Heart Association. A 10-year study of 21,000 people found that those that eat the Southern diet regularly have a 46 percent higher incidence of sudden cardiac death compared to those that don’t eat those foods. By contrast, people that closely follow the Mediterranean Diet—which emphasizes vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains and legumes with little meat or dairy—have a 26 percent lower risk of sudden cardiac death.