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Can A Single Meal Impair Arterial Function? How?
Can A Single Meal Impair Arterial Function? How?
2 May 2022
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I was surprised to learn that a single fatty meal makes our blood viscous and impairs arterial function! How Your Body Responds to Just One High-Fat Meal by Carra Richling at Ornish Lifestyle Medicine has a crisp summary. Excerpts from this article:

Slower Blood Flow:

"Within hours after eating a high fat meal, our blood gets thicker and milky with fat, which slows down blood flow to the heart."

Stiff Arteries:

"At the same time, a high fat meal, especially one high in saturated fat, triggers endothelial dysfunction, which causes the arteries to stiffen and constrict. This effect further inhibits blood flow."

Reduced Protection from Atherosclerosis:

Well-known research published in 2010 in the American College of Cardiology shows how one high fat meal can also reduce the anti-inflammatory ability of HDL (the good cholesterol) to protect your artery lining from atherosclerosis.

"… a 2015 study published in Atherosclerosis, which investigated the impact of both the amount of fat and the type of fat (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) showed higher levels of triglycerides in the blood from all the high fat meals. Saturated fat, however, had the most affect."

The Holiday Effect:

For some susceptible individuals, a meal high in saturated fat can also cause angina (chest pain). This indicates a lack of blood flow to the heart. For people who have more progressed heart disease, one fatty meal can be fatal. In fact, there's a connection between this and what's known as the "holiday or Christmas effect," where more people suffer from heart attacks and strokes during the holiday season, a time when people consume more high fat foods as well as experience more stress.

So despite the trends that claim butter, cream and bacon are healthy, saturated fat has a long history of damaging effects to the health of our heart.

Is eating high fat meals worth the increased risk of heart disease?

Articles:

(3 mins) Atherosclerosis by Dr Klaper

Worth watching to understand how we make our blood viscous and transluscent (with all the fats we consumed) within a few hours of a fatty meal!

Note: The last 2-3 seconds of this video are gross — they show fatty plaque from arteries being removed. But this visual is exactly what may motivate some viewers to stop eating fatty foods to protect themselves from clogging their arteries!

(2022) Saturated Fat Causes Artery and Lung Inflammation

(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "What happens within hours of eating a high-fat meal?"

Opening lines of this video:

"Studies show that just a single meal high in saturated fat can impair artery function for hours after consumption."

(4 mins) How A Single High-Fat Meal Paralyzes Our Arteries

Can a single high fat meal with animal products causes inflammation and impair our arteries? Yes. Dr Greger attributes it to endotoxemia -- our blood stream is invaded by bacteria residing in these animal products. These bacteria are resistant to cooking and even stomach acid and enzymes.

(2015) Fatty Meals May Impair Artery Function

(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "We finally discovered why a single high-fat meal can cause angina chest pain."

(2019) Reverse Heart Disease by Dr Lome

At offset 7:06 of this video, Dr Steven Lome explains how a single meal affects our blood. He shows two vials: one drawn from somebody who consumed a low-fat plant-baed meal, and another drawn from somebody who consumed a high-fat animal-based meal. Blood drawn from the latter person was viscous. The video has further examples of how a single high-fat meal influences other biological markers, for example, a reduction in endothelial function.

At offset 8:10 of this video, Dr Lome explains a funny movie scene in The Game Changers (see video below).

(2019, 4 mins) The Game Changers — Meat vs Plants Experiment Excerpt

The Game Changers (2019, 112 mins) showcased a scene in which blood samples of three male college athletes were compared. On one night, they consumed grass fed beef. On another night, they ate beans. Blood after a meal with animal products was more viscous and transluscent.

The experiment was funny because the athletes also put their manhood to test. Those who consumed a plant-based dinner experienced 400% increase of time of erection and 8% increase in circumference of penis.

Note: this scene is simply dramatization to illustrate a point, not a scientific study.

A Deeper Understanding

These articles have further details:

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