RSS
Home
Cornflakes raise heart disease risk
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Photo: Peyri Leigh
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that eating high glycemic (GI) foods like white bread, cornflakes, and white rice can raise the risk of heart disease by interfering with normal blood vessel function.
The study investigated the effects of four test meals--water, pure glucose, cornflakes, and a high-fiber cereal--in 56 overweight or obese men who were otherwise healthy. The researchers measured the men's blood sugar levels and tested the reactivity of their blood vessels (with a test called flow mediated dilation) to assess their bodies' response to the different meals. Lower flow mediated dilation levels indicate damage to blood vessels that make them less flexible, a factor that might increase heart disease risk.
Thirty and ninety minutes after the meals of glucose and cornflakes, the men's blood sugar levels remained high, and flow mediated dilation was significanlty hampered, "suggesting a mechanism whereby high-glycemic meals enhance cardiovascular disease risk," said the study's authors.
Keep your blood sugar in check
In general, foods that are white have higher GIs (white bread, white flour, white rice, white sugar, and potatoes). Whole grains have lower GIs, and are richer in fiber, vitamins, and minerals than are processed grains. Higher protein foods tend to have lower GI values, as do fatty foods. Choose healthy fats like those found in avocados, nuts, seeds, and fish.
Vinegar can blunt the blood sugar-raising effect of many higher GI foods, as can refrigeration. If you have a hankering for potato salad, make sure to add vinegar to your dressing and cool the salad completely before eating.
For a lower GI breakfast cereal, try oatmeal made from steel cut oats and topped with a handful of almonds, a splash of milk, and little pure maple syrup or agave nectar. The fat in the almonds helps lower the overall GI of the meal, and agave nectar and maple syrup are lower on the GI scale than refined sugars like those in table sugar and artificial maple syrup.
(J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;53:2283-7)
You might also enjoy these:
Related Articles:
Comments
