Sender: |
|
Subject: |
|
From: |
|
Date: |
Thu, 25 Nov 2004 02:58:37 -0500 |
Reply-To: |
|
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
Here is a synopsis of an interesting study. I do not have any direct links
as it was sent to me by a friend.
Manuel
The Worst Breakfast You Can Eat
It may be fast and convenient to stop at McDonald's for breakfast on
your way to work, but this may make you think twice: Eat two McMuffins
and two hash browns for breakfast and your arteries will remain inflamed
until lunchtime, HealthDayNews reports of a new study from the State
University of New York at Buffalo.
Why worry about inflammation of the arteries? This is a direct pathway
to atherosclerosis and heart disease.
The specific breakfast cited by the SUNY Buffalo researchers is a
McDonald's Egg McMuffin, a Sausage McMuffin, and two orders of hash
browns.
Total calories: 930. (It was supersized to reflect the typical amount
of calories in a fast food meal.) Eat this and within an hour, it will
trigger inflammation, says study co-author Dr. Paresh Dandona. What's
more that inflammation continues for three or four hours longer.
Most of us are well aware that high-fat, high-carbohydrate meals raise
our cholesterol levels and send our blood sugar rates soaring. That
puts us at greater risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But now
nutritionists are aware there is a third danger: inflammation of the
blood vessels. The fats and carbohydrate sugars appear to release "free
radical" molecules within the blood cells, which in turn trigger the
inflammation, reports HealthDayNews.
When nine healthy young adults ate this 930-calorie McMuffin/hash brown
breakfast after an overnight fast, their blood showed a definite change
compared to individuals who ate no breakfast. Those who ate the
McDonald's breakfast displayed "evidence of free radical generation by the
circulating white blood cells, which would cause inflammation within the
white blood cells," Dandona said.
The primary culprits of the McDonald's breakfast are the hash browns,
cooking oil, and muffins--not the egg or sausage. The SUNY Buffalo team
is now studying the effects of 300-calorie and 1,800-calorie
breakfasts. Note that McDonald's isn't the only breakfast that can stress
your
arteries. Sit-down restaurants and even home-cooked meals can do the
same thing.
The study findings were published in the April issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
|
|
|