A bacon butty for breakfast is a 'health time bomb in a bun'

A bacon butty for breakfast is a health time bomb in a bun, according to a new study.


Researchers found that just one high-fat meal can affect your heart health and people who eat a sarnie loaded with fat for breakfast will be feeling the ill effects well before lunch.

High-fat diets are associated with developing atherosclerosis - narrowing of the arteries - over a lifetime, the Daily Mail reports.

Just one day of eating a fat-laden breakfast sandwich of processed cheese and meat on a bun - and 'your blood vessels become unhappy,' says Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Doctor Todd Anderson who is head of cardiac science at the University of Calgary in Canada. Atherosclerosis can eventually lead to serious problems including heart disease, stroke or even death. Delegates at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress heard about a study at Dr Anderson’s lab, led by student researcher Vincent Lee.

The key ingredients: breakfast sandwiches and a group of healthy, non-smoking university students. Fats can build up in the arteries over decades. One important gauge of how “happy” someone’s arteries feel is how much blood flow can increase in their arm in response to its brief interruption - measured as VTI (velocity time integral). Dr Anderson said: 'VTI tells us how much blood flow you can you get in your arm. The higher the better, which means the small vessels can dilate to capacity, and the blood vessel hormones are working well.' He wanted to see what would happen to the university students after starting their day with a fatty breakfast.

The objective of the study was to assess the acute effects of just one high-fat meal on microvascular function, an indicator of overall vascular, or blood vessel, health. The students were studied twice, once on a day they had no breakfast, and once on a day when they ate two commercially available breakfast sandwiches, total of 900 calories and 50g of fat. Dr Anderson found that two hours after eating the sandwiches, their VTI had decreased by 15 to 20 per cent. From just one isolated meal, the results are temporary. But the study shows that such a high-fat offering can do more harm, and do it more quickly, than people might think.

Dr Anderson said: 'I won’t say don’t ever have a breakfast sandwich. But enough of a diet like that, and you can see how you can build up fat in the walls of your arteries.' Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson Doctor Beth Abramson said: 'This study reminds us that our behaviours are the backbone of preventing heart disease. 'Remember that whether you eat at home or go to a restaurant, you’re still in charge of what you eat. So consider all the choices, and try to cut down on saturated and trans fats, calories and sodium. That’s one of the keys to decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke.'