In a recent study where the researchers studied the adipose tissue around the human coronary arteries observed that the high fat diets contribute to the inflammation of fat tissue in the area resulting in inflamed blood vessels and thus increase stress for the heart. The research was conducted by Neal Weintraub, MD and other fellow workers from University of Cincinnati. The ‘American Heart Association journal Circulation Research’ would publish the article in the forthcoming publication on Feb 20.
It was rather alarming to note that the inflammation of the tissue and blood vessels occur within a very short-span of time due to high fat diet and thus pose a major threat as a contributor to cardiovascular diseases. In mice the inflammation occurred just by feeding high-fat diet to the animal for about two-weeks. The diet fed to mice was not too different in its formulation from the diet consumed by majority of Americans.
“It produced striking abnormalities of the fat tissue surrounding blood vessels in a very short period of time,” says Weintraub, senior author of the study. “This is a warning to those who say there isn’t a problem because their weight and cholesterol levels are under control. Lipid profiles don’t hold all the answers.”
According to Weintraub the high fat diets play a role in many ways to make humans arteries harden, a situation known as atherosclerosis.
“Elevated blood lipids—or cholesterol levels—can worsen with the intake of high fat diets, and this is known to contribute to atherosclerosis,” he says. “However, many patients who consume high fat diets do not exhibit abnormal lipid profiles but still develop atherosclerosis nonetheless.”
According to researchers, “These new findings suggest a direct link between poor dietary habits and inflammation of blood vessels, mediated by the fat cells surrounding the blood vessel wall.”
According to Weintraub the researchers were not sure of the reason of the tissues (surrounding blood vessels) being so responsive to high-fat diets and suggest further investigations to find out the same.
The results do make us ponder upon the importance of choosing the right diet not only from the point of view of weight gain but from other aspects as well. The researchers also point out to same when they quote “Bad dietary habits can lead to a number of problems, and this suggests that a high fat diet is detrimental in ways we didn’t previously understand.”