High-Fat, High-Carb Meals Cause More Oxidative Stress in Obese People

Tuesday, August 05, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: obesity, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Meals high in fat and carbohydrates produce damaging changes inside the body that are more long-lasting in the obese, according to a study conducted by researchers from Kaleida Health in Buffalo, N.Y., and published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Researchers fed eight obese participants and 10 participants of normal weight a 1,800-calorie meal consisting of a Big Mac, a large order of French fries, a large Coke and an apple pie. Sixty-two percent of the calories in the meal came from carbohydrates, 30 percent came from fat and 8 percent came from protein. For all participants, it was the first meal they had eaten that day, and they were given only 15 minutes to finish it.

The researchers took blood samples from the participants before the meal and one, two and three hours after it. All participants showed increases in oxidative stress and inflammation markers two hours after eating. After three hours, markers of oxidative stress and inflammation had returned to normal in the participants of normal weight, but remained elevated in obese participants.

"If obese people who already have oxidative and inflammatory stress take the same meal, they get far greater and more prolonged levels of oxidative and inflammatory stress," said researcher Paresh Dandona. "Since oxidative and inflammatory stress predispose you to atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke, this risk is far greater in obese people."

Oxygen free radicals and inflammation have been shown to damage blood vessels, leading to the formation of plaque in the eventual blockage of the vessels.

"Clearly, consuming this type of diet regularly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in this group of people already at high risk of cardiovascular events." Dandona said.

In a complementary study, the same researchers found that a 1,800-calorie meal high in fruit and fiber did not lead to any increase in markers of inflammation or oxidative stress.