Heart Attack on a Plate: Top 10 List of Foods that Can Cause an Immediate, Fatal Heart Attack

According to the reasoning of at least 28 anti-smoking groups, transient changes in endothelial dysfunction imply an increased risk of an immediate, fatal heart attack. These groups have claimed that because a study by Otsuka et al., published in JAMA, showed that 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke causes endothelial dysfunction in nonsmokers, those individuals who are exposed transiently to secondhand smoke are therefore at risk of developing atherosclerosis and suffering a heart attack.

Another article published in JAMA demonstrated that eating a single high-fat meal also causes endothelial dysfunction in healthy individuals. In this study, endothelial dysfunction was measured as flow-mediated artery dilation (identical to the way that endothelial dysfunction was measured in the Otsuka study).

The study concluded that "A single high-fat meal transiently reduces endothelial dysfunction for up to 4 hours in healthy, normocholesterolemic subjects, probably through the accumulation of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins." (see Plotnick GD, Corretti MC, Vogel RA. Effect of antioxidant vitamins on the transient impairment of endothelium-dependent brachial artery vasoactivity following a single high-fat meal. JAMA 1997; 278:1682-1686).

The endothelial dysfunction in this study was caused by a meal containing 50 grams of fat.

Thus, anti-smoking groups should be cautioning the public not to eat any of the following foods that can apparently trigger a heart attack, as they contain 50 or more grams of fat and will therefore cause endothelial dysfunction:

10. Two servings of Sonic cheese tater tots

9. Five ounces of sour cream and onion-flavored potato chips

8. Eleven Hostess twinkies

7. Five Kellogg's brown-sugar cinnamon pop tarts

6. One serving of Chicken McNuggets (20 piece)

5. Two Quarter Pounders with cheese

4. One Burger King bacon double cheeseburger deluxe

3. Two classic Cinnabon rolls

2. One Chick-fil-A chicken deluxe sandwich with 3 packages of Polynesian dipping sauce and small cole slaw

1. One Taco Bell beef and potato burrito with 3 tablespoons guacamole and 3 cinnamon twists

If you are at risk of heart disease or even if you are completely healthy, do not eat the above foods. You will be at risk of keeling over and dropping dead from a heart attack.

Note, however, that you can safely have 8 servings of the highly-recommended tater tot casserole.