ARTERIES DAMAGED EACH TIME YOU HAVE A MEAL HIGH IN UNHEALTHY FAT AND SODIUM

New research is demonstrating how making an unhealthy meal choice not only has implications for your long-term health but also how well your body functions in the present.  The findings of two recent Canadian studies illuminate how each unhealthy meal you eat, not only puts you at risk for weight gain but reduces your blood vessels’ capacity to dilate and achieve healthy blood flow.   However, a healthy Mediterranean diet-type meal, if the portions are not in excess of needs, may help blood flow.    

In both studies, the researchers assessed how meals affected the inner lining, the endothelium, of the blood vessels. Endothelial dilation -- widening of the vessels -- enables the vessels to deliver needed oxygen to the body’s cells. Healthy blood vessels are elastic and able to dilate but as heart disease develops the blood vessels stiffen and lose their capacity to adequately expand, so endothelial function is a strong predictor of the risk for heart disease. 

In the first study, out of the Montreal Heart Institute, researchers compared how arterial blood vessels responded when persons were fed either a healthy Mediterranean-style meal or a fast food-type meal.  The fast-food type meal, comprised of a sandwich made with sausage, egg and cheese as well as three hash browns, was laden with unhealthy saturated fats and sodium.  In contrast, the Mediterranean meal was rich in healthy fats and antioxidants and included salmon, almonds, and vegetables cooked in olive oil. 

After eating the fast food-type meal, the participants' arteries dilated 24% less than they did when they had not eaten or when they had eaten the Mediterranean-style meal.  Researchers also analyzed how the vessels of persons with healthy and unhealthy levels of blood triglycerides responded to the two meals.  Triglycerides are a fat in the blood that, when too high, cause health problems such as clogging of the arteries and the development of fatty deposits in the liver.  Interestingly, researchers found that among those with high triglycerides, the Mediterranean-style meal helped to improve endothelial function while the fast-food meal decreased endothelial function even more than it did for those with healthy blood triglycerides. 

Similarly, in another study, conducted by a team in Calgary, Alberta, researchers examined how blood vessels responded after the consumption of two ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches with a total of 50g of fat and 900 calories.   Sure enough, compared to the participants who had not eaten recently, the blood vessels of those who ate the two breakfast sandwiches worked less effectively and dilated significantly less two hours after the meal.

Why did these meals impair arterial function?  Foods containing high levels of saturated fat are believed to increase inflammation and raise circulating blood cholesterol that can build up on the walls of the blood vessels.  Meals high in sodium can increase blood pressure which also stresses the arteries' healthy functioning.

What to do:  You already know!  Make healthy choices.  Stay away from foods high in sodium (salt) and unhealthy saturated fat found in fatty meats and creamy dairy foods such as cheese.  Next time you eye a thick hamburger, remember each and every unhealthy meal you have is doing real time damage to your cardiovascular system.   

Adapted from articles found at:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_130857.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_130819.html

Source:

Todd Anderson, M.D., director, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Canada; Chris Fahs, graduate assistant, department of health and exercise science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.; Oct. 30, 2012, presentation, Canadian Cardiovascular Congress meeting, Toronto