Posted on 12/10/2023 6:34:09 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Eating fatty foods during stressful periods can impair the body's 'recovery' from the effects of stress, research suggests.
Different findings have shown consuming foods high in fat before a mentally stressful episode can reduce brain oxygenation and cause poorer vascular function in adults.
"When we get stressed, our heart rate and blood pressure go up, blood vessels dilate, and blood flow to the brain increases. We also know that the elasticity of our blood vessels—which is a measure of vascular function—declines following mental stress. We found that consuming fatty foods when mentally stressed reduced vascular function by 1.74% (as measured by Brachial Flow-mediated dilatation, FMD)."
"Previous studies have shown that a 1% reduction in vascular function leads to a 13% increase in cardiovascular disease risk. Importantly we show that this impairment in vascular function persisted for even longer when our participants had eaten the croissants."
The scientists were also still able to detect reduced arterial elasticity in participants up to 90 minutes after the stressful event was over.
The team also found that eating high-fat foods attenuated cerebral oxygenation in the pre-frontal cortex, with lower oxygen delivery (39% reduction in oxygenated hemoglobin) during stress compared to when participants consumed a low-fat meal. Furthermore, fat consumption had a negative effect on mood both during and after the stress episode.
The research also suggested that by consuming low-fat food and drinks, people's recovery from stress is less affected. After eating a low-fat meal, stress still had a negative effect on vascular function (1.18% decrease in FMD), but this decline returned to normal 90 minutes after the stressful event.
Further research has shown that by consuming 'healthier' foods, particularly those rich in polyphenols, such as cocoa, berries, grapes, apples and other fruits and vegetables, this impairment in vascular function can be completely prevented.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
bkmk
Ping
all the fat positivity crowd will be howling...
I don’t want to be antioccident, that’s what the Chinese are—oh wait a minute...
The foods that are easiest to produce are the foods that provide the least effective nutrition; it’s why society is body-shape upside down, with the wealthy being thin and the poor being fat.
I wonder what the difference is, whether the fat is monounsaturated vs. polyunsaturated vs. saturated, i.e. EV olive oil vs. canola oil vs. grain-fed meat fat.
I recently taking these anti-oxidants each morning:
Quercetin
Grape Seed Extract
Green Tea Extract (EGCG)
Zinc (alternating mornings)
My brain has never felt cleaner.
You know that little worry in that corner, a niggling stress over there and an incipient headache? All gone.
Asked my PCP about it. She said, “Yeah, that works and everyone in the office is on that kind of program, but we don’t get paid to prescribe it.”
**
Further research has shown that by consuming 'healthier' foods, particularly those rich in polyphenols, such as cocoa, berries, grapes, apples and other fruits and vegetables, this impairment in vascular function can be completely prevented.So... when balanced by antioxidants the benefits of high-fat intake remain while the harmful effects are attenuated.
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