CINCINNATI, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers, in an animal study, link high-fat diets -- even short-term -- to inflammation that can lead to heart disease.
The study, published in Circulation Research, finds the fat cells surrounding the coronary arteries become highly inflamed after mice are fed a high-fat diet for only two weeks.
"This is independent of weight gain or blood lipids -- cholesterol levels," study senior author Dr. Neal Weintraub of the University of Cincinnati said in a statement. "This is a warning to those who say there isn't a problem because their weight and cholesterol levels are under control. Lipid profiles don't hold all the answers."
Bad dietary habits can lead to a number of problems, and this suggests a high fat diet is detrimental in ways that were not previously understood, Weintraub says.
"These new findings suggest a direct link between poor dietary habits and inflammation of blood vessels, mediated by the fat cells surrounding the blood vessel wall," Weintraub says.
