Sep 23, 2009 11:50 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Fast Food Worse Than First Thought
CBS 2 HD Gets A Checkup And Sees First Hand The Type Of Damage Fatty Foods Can Do To Your Arteries, Heart
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
It's easy, it's fast and it's cheap. But just how bad is eating a diet of fast food?
As CBS 2 HD found out having just one of these fattening meals can take a tremendous toll on your body.
At St. Luke's Roosevelt Cardiovascular Center doctors hooked me up to an ultrasound and an EKG. They used the machines to monitor the blood flow in my arteries before I ate lunch.
"It looked normal to me. Yes, even the flow itself," said Danny Pudpud, manager of the Cardiac Echo Lab.
But then I ate my favorite fast food -- two burgers, fries, cookies and a couple sips of soda and a milk shake, a total of about 2,500 calories and 85 grams of fat -- and everything changed.
"After the fatty meal, it is impaired," Dr. Farooq Chaudhry said.
The new tests showed my arteries weren't working properly. Doctors said the culprit was the fatty food.
Saturated fat impairs the ability of the arteries to dilate properly, so in effect they're narrower. And this makes it harder for the heart to pump blood through the body.
But in a properly working artery, after eating a low-fat meal, the inner lining expands to allow the artery to dilate and boost blood flow.
But my results after eating the high fat meal were shocking. There is virtually no difference in the size of the artery. The lining did not expand. Doctors said that's because the fatty meal caused my arteries to become rigid, keeping them narrow.
"Just one fatty meal did that so you can see what happens chronically over a prolonged period of time," Dr. Chaudhry said.
"So if you have a diet that you routinely keep eating fat, over time it will help to promote build-up in your blood vessels that go to your heart and brain," added Dr. Merle Myerson, director of the St. Luke's Roosevelt Vascular Disease Program.
This could result in a heart attack or stroke. And that's not all.
"We also have a lot of evidence that a high-fat diet can increase your risk of having cancer and of course we know it makes you overweight and obesity is a huge health problem," Dr. Myerson said.
Chain restaurants, including fast-food establishments, are now required to post nutrition details, so when making your choices make sure your calorie and fat consumptions is no more than the recommended daily allowance of 2,000 calories and no more than 60 grams of fat.
"Choose foods that are broiled, baked or steamed and avoid foods that are fried of cooked in a lot of oil," Dr. Myerson said.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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