Anyone interested in healthy and nutritious foods has probably heard that whole grains
are far better for you than the processed variety like white bread and sugar-laden
cereals. There are several reasons for this, including the fact whole foods tend to be
richer in fiber and they also have low glycemic indexes. That means they keep blood sugar
and insulin levels steady without wide fluctuations. But a new study published in
the Journal of the American College of Cardiology concludes there's
another important reason to avoid high glycemic foods like white bread and corn flakes.
For the first time, scientists have documented how eating these foods can directly damage artery
walls and cause cardiac problems.
"It's very hard to predict heart disease," Dr. Michael
Shechter of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of
Sheba Medical Center, said in a statement to the media. "But doctors know that high
glycemic foods rapidly increase blood
sugar. Those who binge on these foods have a greater chance of sudden death from heart
attack. Our research connects the dots, showing the link between diet and what's happening
in real time in the arteries."
For his study, Dr Shechter and colleagues worked with 56 healthy volunteers who were
divided into four groups. One group ate cornflake cereal mixed with milk, a second
consumed a pure sugar mixture,
the third group ate bran flakes and the last group took water (as a placebo control). Over the course
of four weeks, Dr. Shechter applied brachial reactive testing to the
research subjects in each group. This test, a clinical and research technique pioneered by
Dr. Shechter's laboratory, uses a blood pressure
type cuff on the arm that is able to visualize what happens inside arteries before, during
and after eating various foods.
Before any of the study participants ate, the function of their arteries was essentially
the same. After eating, however, all except the placebo group had reduced arterial
functioning -- especially the research subjects who ate cornflakes and sugar. In fact, the
testing documented that during the consumption of these foods high in sugar, there was a
temporary and sudden dysfunction in the endothelium, the thin layer of cells
that line the inside of arteries and reduce turbulence as blood flows throughout the
entire circulatory system.
This is a critical finding because, when repeated over time, a sudden expansion of artery
walls can cause a host of negative effects on healthincluding damage to endothelial
cells. That can reduce elasticity in arteries, resulting in heart disease or even sudden death. In
fact, according to Dr. Shechter, endothelium dysfunction can be traced back to almost
every disorder and disease in the body.
"We knew high glycemic foods were bad for the heart. Now we have a mechanism that
shows how," Dr. Shechter explained in the press statement. "Foods like
cornflakes, white bread, French
fries, and sweetened soda all
put undue stress on our arteries. We've explained for the first time how high glycemic
carbs can affect the progression of heart disease."
Dr. Shechter agrees with natural health advocates who have long advised staying away from
highly processed, high glycemic foods and eating a diet rich in low glycemic whole foods such as oatmeal,
fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. In addition to helping protect your heart, this
style of eating has other advantages. According to the Harvard School of Public Health web
site, these healthy foods are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a host of important
phytonutrients.
On the other hand, white bread, white rice, pastries, sugared sodas, and other
highly processed foods tear
down instead of build health -- they contribute to weight gain, interfere with weight
loss, and promote diabetes and heart disease. As reported earlier in Natural News,
processed foods have also been linked with an increased risk for cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/022025.html)
and recent studies indicate many processed foodstuffs, from bread to candy bars, may be
contaminated with toxic mercury, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/025442_m...).(Natural News,
8.25.2009, S. L. Baker)
http://www.naturalnews.com/026913_foods_health_sugar.html