junk food 3Heart attacks commonly happen after high-fat meals because of the negative effect such a meal has on the vascular system. Research appearing in the Journal of Nutrition (February 2008, Volume 138, Pages 287-291) showed that EPA from fish oil may be able to affect vascular function after a fatty meal. It was a small study, with 17 healthy men as volunteers. They were given two test meals (51 g fat), 1 wk apart, in random order. They were supplemented with 5 g EPA plus high-oleic sunflower oil (HOS) vs. HOS only. A second high-fat meal (44 g fat), the same on both study days, was provided 4 hours later. Blood pressure and arterial function were measured using digital volume pulse to derive as “stiffness index”. This was measured in fasting subjects at three and six hours following the test meal. They found that taking the EPA improved vascular tone following a high-fat meal.