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Fat intake impairs the recovery of endothelial function following mental stress in young healthy adults
Cardiovascular events are triggered by mental stress. In healthy people, acute abnormalities in endothelial function can be brought on by a single stressful experience. Crucially, people frequently turn to bad habits during stressful times, such as eating more high-fat meals, which is also known to have a detrimental effect on endothelial function. Baynham et al. (2023) conducted this study to determine if eating a high-fat lunch would worsen the damaging effects of mental stress on vascular function. A high-fat (56.5 g fat) or low-fat (11.4 g fat) breakfast was consumed by 21 healthy males and females in a randomized, counterbalanced, cross-over postprandial intervention trial, 1.5 hours before an 8-minute mental stress test (Paced-Auditory-Serial-Addition-test, or PASAT). Blood pressure (BP), cardiovascular activity, and forearm blood flow (FBF) were measured at rest, post-meal, and under stressful situations. The levels of plasma triglycerides (TAG) were measured both before and after meals. Brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was used to quantify endothelial function before meals and 30, 60, and 90 minutes after mental stress. After the high-fat lunch, the plasma TAG content was much higher than in the low-fat condition. Both situations showed similar increases in blood pressure, peripheral vasodilation, and cardiovascular activity, as well as impaired FMD 30 minutes after mental stress. Only in the high-fat condition did FMD continue to be substantially affected 90 minutes after stress, indicating that eating fat increases the time it takes for endothelial function to recover after mental stress. The authors comment that these findings have crucial implications for dietary decisions to preserve the vasculature during stressful times, as young individuals are known to consume fat during stressful times. [NPID: Fat consumption, mental stress, young adults, endothelial recovery, cardiovascular risk]
Year: 2023
