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Post fatty meal exercise reverses damage

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Physical activity after a high-fat meal can reverse the arterial dysfunction caused by fatty foods, find Indiana University researchers.

After a fatty meal arteries lose their ability to expand in response to an increase in blood flow, with the effect peaking four to six hours after eating -- just in time for the next meal, according to study co-author Janet P. Wallace.

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"What happens four hours after that high-fat meal is that your artery looks just like the arteries of a person who has heart disease," says Wallace. "What our study showed is that when you exercise after that meal, it doesn't look like a sick artery anymore."

The growing focus on the effect food has on the body after the meal -- also known as the postprandial state -- is an important area to study, because of the amount of time people spend in it throughout their day and its influence on conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, according to Wallace.

The oxidation of high-fat meals causes oxidative stress markers that harm the arteries and contribute to such conditions as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and cancer, but physical activity counteracts this oxidative effect, according to the study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.

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