A new study from the Journal of Nutrition finds that a single fatty meal can cause the heart to beat harder and blood pressure to rise. Researchers at the University of Calgary analyzed the affects of either a high-fat fast-food meal (42 grams of fat) or a meal with no more than 1.3 grams of fat among 30 healthy participants. The results showed that when both groups were subjected to a series of standard stress tests, those who ate the high-fat meal saw their blood pressure go up 1.25 to 1.5 times higher than the participants who ate the low-fat meal.

Jakulj F, Zernicke K, Bacon SL, Wielingen L, et al. A High-Fat Meal Increases Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stress in Healthy Young Adults. J Nutr. 2007;137:935-939.

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