High Protein High Fat Diet Affects Our Vascular Health

Negative effects of high protein high fat diet are numerous. We know that consuming high fat and high protein foods is linked to high risk of becoming overweight, having high blood cholesterol and sugar, thus having high chances to suffer from type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other serious health conditions. In addition, those who choose high protein high fat diet are prone to developing metabolic disorders, poor kidney function and slowed down detoxification processes, poor physical shape and slightly increased risks of health conditions related to spine and bones. Those people who are involved in plenty of physical activities or are currently trying to lose weight by using an individual intensive training program can be recommended to use a high protein diet in order to have good amounts of energy for exercising. However, the effects of high protein high fat diet for those who are leading sedentary lifestyle can be very harmful.

Moreover, according to the findings of a recent study by a group of Canadian experts, the mentioned effects start very quickly, even to those who eat high protein high fat diet just a few times a week. It was found out that consuming a sandwich with high fat red meat and full fat cheese for breakfast can cause serious damage to our vessels before the lunch time, and have very serious damaging effects on our vascular health in a long term perspective. Canadian scientists have presented their findings at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012, which took place in Toronto in the end of October 2012, and pointed to the fact that eating fast food, pizzas, some traditional foods and other high fat high protein foods actually have very serious effects to our vessels in very short period of time. Unfortunately, a great deal of people, especially college and university students are consuming such foods on a regular basis exposing themselves to very high risk of vascular health conditions.

The main objective of the study was to estimate the effects just one daily meal (namely breakfast) of high protein high fat diet meal on vascular and cardiovascular health in general, and the scientists invited a group of healthy non-smoking young people, mainly the students of various American Universities. During the experiment, they were all asked to consume two sandwiches similar to the ones which are commercially sold in many fast food restaurants around the world. The sandwiches had in total 900 calories, including 50 g of fat. In order to see the difference and study the effects of high protein high diet breakfast on our vascular health, the scientists asked the students to avoid eating any kinds of breakfast two-three days a week. The participants were studied a few times a day, and the main idea was to learn more about the effects of eating high fat and high protein sandwiches on microvascular function of the participants.

The scientists were using the index known as VTI (velocity time integral) to make necessary assessments. “VTI tells us how much blood flow you can you get in your arm,” Dr. Todd Anderson, one of the leaders of the research and a clinician scientist at the University of Calgary in the Department of Medicine, commented on the study course during the presentation. “The higher the better, which means the small vessels can dilate to capacity, and the blood vessel hormones are working well.” It turned out that just in two hours after consuming high protein high fat diet meal (breakfast), the VTI of the participants had a substantial fall of 15-20 per cent, indication that vascular condition of the students has been seriously affected by increased amount of fats in the meal.

Therefore, negative effects of high fat and high protein foods on our vascular health come much quicker than scientist ever expected. Certainly, according to Anderson, the mentioned effects from one-two meals  a day can hardly turn into chronic and have lasting destructive consequences. However, this study should be takes as a serious warning sign for those who like eating sandwiches and other fast food-like breakfasts, the experts say. Dr. Anderson reminded that increased consumption of the foods high in fat (especially trans fats and other ‘bad’ fats) is closely linked to high risk of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries) which is in turn associated with other serious cardiovascular conditions like stroke or heart attack, as well as high risk of premature death.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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