VITAMINS COUNTER FATTY DIET IN STUDY; HIGH DOSES OF C, E MAY BENEFIT ARTERIES.Byline: Lindsey Tanner Associated Press It sounds like a recipe for a coronary: Serve Egg McMuffins and Sausage McMuffins for breakfast, with slabs of fried hash browns on the side, to captive research subjects. You can almost feel arteries slamming shut. Yet when huge doses of vitamins C and E were added to the diet, an extraordinary thing happened: The subjects' arteries responded to the high-fat meal as though they'd eaten a low-fat bowl of corn flakes. Researchers caution that the small study's finding is preliminary, but it appears to bolster scientific thinking that antioxidant vitamins can decrease the heart-disease risk posed by a fatty diet. The 20 subjects who ate the fat-packed McDonald's breakfast had impaired blood vessel blood vessel n. An elastic tubular channel, such as an artery, a vein, a sinus, or a capillary, through which the blood circulates. blood vessel(s), n the network of muscular tubes that carry blood. function for up to four hours afterward. But no such impairment was found on another day when they swallowed 20 times the recommended daily dosage of vitamins C and E immediately before eating the same meal. The research appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. . ``The predominant mechanism by which a high-fat (especially saturated fat saturated fat, any solid fat that is an ester of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid. The molecules of a saturated fat have only single bonds between carbon atoms; if double bonds are present in the fatty acid portion of the molecule, the fat is said to be ) diet leads to atherosclerosis is by elevating serum cholesterol,'' wrote the authors, led by Dr. Gary Plotnick, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland University of Maryland can refer to:
Their findings provide further evidence of a ``second potential pathway'' to hardened arteries in which dietary fats damage the endothelium endothelium /en·do·the·li·um/ (-the´le-um) pl. endothe´lia the layer of epithelial cells that lines the cavities of the heart, the serous cavities, and the lumina of the blood and lymph vessels. , the inner layer of cells that line the heart and the blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. . The study could help explain why people sometimes have heart attacks right after eating a big, fatty meal, and why some people with normal cholesterol levels develop heart problems, said Dr. Kenneth Cooper, author of ``The Antioxidant antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antioxidants as vitamin C (ascorbic acid), butylated hydroxytoluene Revolution'' and founder of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. ``This is just further information that documents the beneficial effects of antioxidants Antioxidants Substances that reduce the damage of the highly reactive free radicals that are the byproducts of the cells. Mentioned in: Aging, Nutritional Supplements antioxidants, n. ,'' Cooper said. Antioxidants, such as the vitamins studied, work by soaking up dangerous byproducts that form when the body metabolizes oxygen. These byproducts, known as free radicals, can damage cells. They are thought to interact with some fats in a way that makes them clog arteries, and can produce cellular damage that sometimes leads to cancer. Dr. Meir Stampfer, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard's School of Public Health, called the study ``a good piece of work and a nice step forward.'' But, he added, ``It was a small number of people and just one meal. We want to know what happens long term.'' It's unknown whether antioxidant vitamins could block the effects of a consistently high-fat diet high-fat diet A diet rich in fats, often saturated–animal or tropical oils—fats Adverse effects Arthritis, CA, vascular disease, DM, HTN, obesity, stroke. See Fat, Fatty acids, Saturated fat acis, Cf Low-fat diet. . Long-term use of vitamins in such high doses also could be harmful. Plotnick stressed that findings are ``very preliminary.'' ``We're not ready to recommend people take vitamins and eat whatever they want,'' he said. ``We need to repeat this on a long-term basis . . . with more people.'' The study involved 13 men and seven women ages 25 to 53 with normal cholesterol levels. They were monitored after eating different breakfasts on three separate days: Two McMuffins with two patties of hash browns, containing 50 grams of fat (14 grams saturated fat) and 225 mg of cholesterol. The same high-fat foods after ingesting 1000 mg of vitamin C vitamin C or ascorbic acid Water-soluble organic compound important in animal metabolism. Most animals produce it in their bodies, but humans, other primates, and guinea pigs need it in the diet to prevent scurvy. and 800 international units of vitamin E. A bowl of frosted corn flakes and 8 ounces of skim milk, containing no fat and 13 grams of cholesterol. For six hours after the subjects ate, their arm arteries were periodically constricted con·strict v. con·strict·ed, con·strict·ing, con·stricts v.tr. 1. To make smaller or narrower by binding or squeezing. 2. To squeeze or compress. 3. with blood-pressure cuffs and monitored with ultrasound. The vitamin-enhanced high-fat meal and the low-fat meal produced the same, healthy response when the blood-pressure cuffs were released: The arteries dilated dilated a state of dilatation. dilated cardiomyopathy see congestive cardiomyopathy. dilated pupil syndrome see feline dysautonomia (Key-Gaskell syndrome). by about 20 percent. But after the high-fat meal alone, the arteries dilated significantly less than that for as long as four hours - an impaired response indicating possible accumulations of fat, the researchers said. That suggested, the researchers said, that vitamins C and E prevent fatty foods from clogging the blood vessels and damaging their lining. Plotnick joked that the hardest part of the study was finding volunteers to eat the McMuffin breakfast. Next time, he said with a laugh, the researchers might offer cheesecake preceded by red wine, which also contains antioxidants. |
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