It is a widely known fact that high-carb foods - like cornflakes, white bread, and French fries - increase the risk of heart problems; but why high carb food is bad for cardiac health was not known.

Recent study by Tel Aviv University revealed how wrong food effects healthy heart.

Research team led by Dr. Michael Shechter of the university's Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center analyzed data collected from 56 healthy volunteers. The study subjects were divided into four groups, which were asked to eat different food items. The first group ate a cornflake mush mixed with milk, the second a pure sugar mixture, the third bran flakes, while the last group was given a placebo (water).

Over a period of four weeks, Dr. Shechter observed the arterial function of the study subjects using "brachial reactive testing", a clinical and research technique pioneered by his laboratory in Israel.  

It was found that arterial function of the study subjects were basically same at the beginning of the study. However, after eating the prescribed food, all of them had reduced functioning, except for the placebo group. Maximum arterial stress was found in the high glycemic index groups - the cornflakes and sugar group.

Dr. Shechter says: "We knew high glycemic foods were bad for the heart. Now we have a mechanism that shows how. Foods like cornflakes, white bread, french fries, and sweetened soda all put undue stress on our arteries. We've explained for the first time how high glycemic carbs can affect the progression of heart disease."