(High fat diet (Getty Images) ) Rats fed a high-fat diet exhibit
stark reduction in their physical endurance and cognitive
ability after just nine days, says a new study. The research,
funded by the British Heart Foundation, may have implications
not only for high-fat addicts, but also athletes looking for the
optimal diet for training and patients with metabolic disorders.
"We found that rats, when switched to a high-fat diet from their
standard low-fat feed, showed a surprisingly quick reduction in
their physical performance," says Andrew Murray, who led the
study at Oxford University and is now with the University of
Cambridge. "After just nine days, they were only able to run 50
percent as far on a treadmill as those that remained on the low-
fat feed," adds Murray. High-fat diets, prevalent in western
countries, are known to be harmful in the long term and can lead
to obesity, diabetes and heart failure. The Oxford team set out
to investigate whether rats fed a high-fat diet for just a few
days showed any