Study serves health warning on full Irish breakfast

THE full Irish breakfast — a staple meal at every B&B — should carry a health warning, according to research.

Eating just one Irish breakfast, or any other high-fat meal increases the risk of heart attack because it increases the stiffness of blood vessel walls by 10%.

Professor Ian You ng, Professor of Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, who was involved in the research, said whenever a healthy person ate a high-fat meal, there was a temporary increase in the stiffness of the blood vessels.

“This effect lasts for about five hours. Having stiffened blood vessels is something which is potentially harmful and it does increase the immediate risk of heart attack. However, more research needs to be done to examine the cumulative effect of prolonged exposure to high-fat meals.”

In carrying out the study, 10 healthy men and five women aged 20 to 42 ate a specially prepared drink made up of the same nutritional content as a fast food or an Irish breakfast.

Prof Young listed liquid fat, ice-cream and cream among the ingredients. “We used a standardised drink to mimic a typical fast food meal, similar to an Irish breakfast. It was effectively a milkshake with the same nutritional value as a high-fat meal. It had the effect of stiffening the blood vessel walls,” he said.

This compares with the Irish idea of a good breakfast, which is to feed you enough to last until lunchtime. It usually includes fruit juice and cereal, followed by brown bread and scones, before the tea and toast appears, to keep you going while the main event is cooking. This comes in the form of slices of bacon, a couple of sausages, grilled tomato, a fried egg, black and white pudding, more toast and more tea.

Dr Young said more extensive research needed to be done to assess the effect of long-term exposure to high-fat food. He said he would support the introduction of a fat tax if it promoted a healthier diet.

“It is worth considering but it would have to be matched by subsidising healthy food. That would encourage a healthier diet.”

The findings of the study, as reported in this week’s Irish Medical Times will be presented to the Irish Cardiac Society’s annual scientific meeting in Killarney this weekend.