Lindora Clinic Dr. Peter Vash took before and after blood samples from Guerin and Ashley Shakbandaryan, who had eaten a veggie burger and baked fries.
Shakbandaryan's blood was clear, while Guerin's looked like oil because fatty acids were still fighting to clear through his blood. That fat constricts vessels and sticks to artery walls.
"Clearly there's a difference and obviously people need to think about what they eat," said Guerin.
And he's right. Dr. Mehmet Oz explained the difficult time the fat in unhealthy meals can have getting through the blood stream.
"They literally spasm them down and that spasm last for four to six hours," he said. "Unfortunately, four to six hours later most Americans get another fatty meal in their body."
And while we realize that a high fat meal is hard on the heart, recent research indicates that a diet high in saturated fat is also hard on brain performance and also physical exercise as well.
Vash recounted an Oxford study where healthy rats mastered a maze, but eating badly over time adversely affected their success on finding a way out.
"Well it appears that the amount of fat clotted or lined their blood vessels so it impaired their performance and impaired their cognitive memory functions so they could not go through the maze as well," he said.
Nor could they go the distance. Vash says a host of research shows 10 to 20 years of fatty buildup leads to cognitive decline. But you don't have to wait that long to suffer from the consequences.
"You spend your entire day with spastic arteries that aren't carrying as much blood as they could to your different vital organs including your brain, your heart, your sexual organs," said Oz.
Vash agrees.
"Because the fat, as you'll see is so dense it displaces the red blood cells the brain doesn't get enough oxygen and so you're profoundly tired," he said.
Keep in mind, fat is necessary for many bodily functions, but it's the type of fat that counts. Vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, avocado and fatty fish all help fight damaging inflammation.
Lindora offers a VAP (Vertical Auto Profiling) Cholesterol test that includes the blood test Guerin and Shakbandaryan took. The entire VAP package tests for the risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Lindora is offering the VAP test at a special price of $149 (regular price - $199) for ABC7 viewers. Check Lindora's website to find a clinic near you.
