A new study has found that high fat diets could thicken arteries down to the cellular level.
When arteries get thicker and stiffer, it can lead to heart disease and stroke.
Previous research has shown that high levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) in the blood is a key risk factor for thickened arteries.
Cholesterol is a tiny fat molecule that circulates in our bloodstream with the help of lipoproteins.
It is an essential fat that cells need to make membranes and steroid hormones.
It has shown that LDLs could carry cholesterol away from the liver to cells, while high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) could return cholesterol to the liver.
However, it was not known how cholesterol causes artery thickening.
The research was done by a team from the University of Illinois.
In this study, the researchers fed mice with a well-balanced diet or a “western high fat diet” that similar to a fast food menu. This western diet was high in fat, protein, and carbohydrate.
They found mice eating the western diet developed stiffer arteries very fast. The levels of LDLs and oxidized LDLs both were higher than that in the mice fed with a normal diet.
The result showed that a very small amount of oxidized LDL could dramatically change the structure of the cell membrane for the worse.
The researchers suggest that diet plays an important role in artery health. Changes in blood lipid due to a diet can disrupt artery structure.
The study researchers are Manuela Ayee, who worked with Irena Levitan at the University of Illinois.
The study was presented at the 63rd Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
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