Older women who eat high amounts of the kind of fat found in fried foods and baked goods face a greater risk of stroke than women who eat lower fat diets, a US study suggested.

The data came from the largest study to date of post-menopausal women and their eating habits, and included 87,025 women between the ages 50 and 79 who were generally in good health at the time of enrolment.

Women who reported eating diets high in trans-fatty acids, or 6.1 grams a day, showed a 39 per cent greater incidence of stroke due to a blocked artery than women who ate 2.2 grams per day of such fats.

“Our findings confirm that postmenopausal women with higher trans fat intake had an elevated risk of ischemic stroke, but aspirin use may reduce the adverse effects,” said lead author Ka He of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.

“We recommend following a diet low in trans fat and adding an aspirin regimen to help women reduce their risk of stroke, specifically following the onset of menopause.”

Trans fat is on the decline in the US due to a public health and legislation campaign which has banned its use in many fast food restaurants and in food preparation.

But it hasn’t disappeared altogether.

“Trans fats are rare in living nature, but can commonly occur in foods as a result of food processing called partial hydrogenation when a liquid vegetable oil is turned into a solid fat,” said Nancy Copperman, director of public health initiatives at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York.