A high-fat breakfast can lead to an unhealthy day
By Matt Ford
Common dieting advice suggests that as long as 'bad' foods are eaten in moderation and tempered with a host of healthy choices, they are not terribly bad for you. A new study published in this month's edition of the Journal of Nutrition demonstrates that a single high-fat meal in an otherwise healthy lifestyle causes a person to have a stronger adverse physiological reaction to stress than when eating a balanced diet.
The study, which was carried out by a team at the University of Calgary, Concordia University, and Pennsylvania State University measured the physiological response in a group of healthy volunteers to stressful situations. The volunteer students were broken into two groups, one was given a fast-food breakfast from McDonalds while the other was given a breakfast consisting of dry cereal with skim milk, cereal bars and non-fat yogurt. The 30 volunteers fasted the night before then consumed meals which contained the same number of calories—the low-fat meal had supplements to balance it for sodium and potassium.
Two hours later both groups were subjected to four different tasks; a mathematical test, a public-speaking exercise, submerging arms in ice water, and having a blood-pressure cuff kept on their arm. Along with each test, a battery of cardiovascular measurements was taken on each patient. Among them was blood pressure, heart rate, and blood vessel resistance. It was found that those who had the high-fat breakfast had a greater reactivity to the stressful tasks that they had to complete.
According to Dr. Travis Campbell, the study's lead author, "... it's been well documented that a high-fat diet leads to artherosclerosis and high blood pressure, and that exaggerated and prolonged cardiovascular responses to stress are associated with high blood pressure in the future. So when we learn that even a single, high-fat meal can make you more reactive to stress, it's cause for concern because it suggests a new and damaging way that a high-fat diet affects cardiovascular function." Although Dr. Campbell is realistic, he goes on to say that "telling people to never eat something is probably not a good way to promote a better diet." He recommends further research into the mechanisms at work here.
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