Body clock blitz
TUESDAY
BY MATTHEW BARBOUR A RECENT study found it takes just half an hour for one salty meal to significantly impair arteries’ ability to pump blood around the body.
But that’s not the only bad habit that can have immediate effects on your health. From smoking to alcohol, sugar, salt and fat, this timeline shows how quickly your body reacts to your vices... Blood sugar levels soar Sugar’s a simple, small molecule absorbed into the bloodstream faster than any other, according to Arens.
She added: “For most of us, our pancreas can produce enough insulin to stabilise high blood-sugar levels but sustained and regular intake of sugary foods can overload it and contribute to type 2 diabetes.” Impaired brain function All booze goes straight to your head, according to German researchers. They found it takes six minutes for the effects to cause damage. Scans showed the concentration of compounds which protect the brain’s delicate cells decreased as alcohol levels rose.
DNA mutations from smoking A single cigarette can cause genetic damage to your body in minutes rather than years, research found.
Researchers discovered smoke quickly forms a toxic substance in the blood known to trash DNA, causing mutations that can lead to cancer. Volunteer smokers developed maximum levels of the substance 15-30 minutes after smoking. Carbon monoxide levels peak after smoking Carbon monoxide – the deadly gas present in car exhaust fumes – is, in cigs, 600 times the concentration thought safe in industrial workplaces.
A smoker’s blood typically contains four to 15 times as much CO as that of a non-smoker.
“When you breathe in smoke, the carbon monoxide passes straight into your blood, binding to oxygen receptor sites and kicking oxygen molecules out of your red blood cells,” Prof West said.
CO binds to the haemoglobin in red blood cells 200 times more effectively than oxygen. It means less oxygen reaches a smoker’s brain and other organs. Blood sugar levels fall The tell-tale slump after eating sugary snacks occurs because sugar is absorbed and burned up in a fraction of the time of larger molecules like protein.
“Eating sugars or starches at the same time as fats and protein – a ham wholegrain sandwich, for example – delays the absorption rate of the sugar, resulting in less dramatic peaks and troughs, plus a reduced risk of diabetes,” said
Arens. Good cholesterol turns bad Scientists at Sydney’s Heart Research Institute found even one meal rich in saturated fat can affect the ability of “good” HDL cholesterol to protect against damage to arteries.