A tough day could erase the perks of choosing 'good' fat sources, study finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/osu-atd100416.php

Public Release: 5-Oct-2016
A tough day could erase the perks of choosing 'good' fat sources, study finds
Stress affects how the body processes different kinds of fat
Ohio State University

The type of fat you eat matters, but a new study suggests that the benefits of good fats vanish when stress enters the picture.

Unstressed women who ate a biscuits-and-gravy breakfast made mostly with saturated fat fared worse in blood tests looking for precursors to disease than those women who ate an identical breakfast made primarily with monounsaturated sunflower oil.

But when women in the study had a stressful event before the breakfast test, the hardships of the previous day appeared to erase any benefits linked to the healthy fat choice, say researchers from The Ohio State University.

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The women were asked about the previous day's experiences and the researchers used the Daily Inventory of Stressful Events questionnaire to determine if the woman was under stress.

Minor irritants didn't count as a stressful day. Stressors included having to clean up paint a child spilled all over the floor and struggling to help a parent with dementia who was resisting help.

"They're not life-shattering events, but they're not of the hangnail variety either," Kiecolt-Glaser said.

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Kiecolt-Glaser and Belury said it's important to remember that inflammation creeps up over time to contribute to disease. The message here, they said, is not that you might as well eat whatever you want when you're stressed.

Rather, Belury said, it could serve as a reminder to shoot for healthier choices every day so that when stress gets in your way you're starting in a better place.