Single Bowl of Corn Flakes Causes Heart Damage Similar to That of Habitual Smokers, According to Reasoning of ANR and ASH

According to the same reasoning used by Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in making public statements on the effects of brief secondhand smoke exposure on the heart, eating a single bowl of Corn Flakes can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.

Moreover, the same reasoning leads to the following pronouncements:

• Eating a single high-fat meal can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.

• Drinking a single energy drink can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.

• A brief episode of acute mental stress can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.
  

Based on research showing that a 30-minute exposure to secondhand smoke causes endothelial dysfunction in nonsmokers, as measured by reduction of flow-mediated dilation, and that the levels of coronary flow velocity reserve produced acutely in the exposed nonsmokers are similar to those observed in habitual smokers, ANR and ASH have made public pronouncements that brief tobacco smoke exposure:

1. Causes heart damage similar to that in habitual smokers (ANR); and

2. Increases a nonsmoker's risk of a fatal heart attack to that of a chronic smoker's (ASH).

The Rest of the Story

What ANR and ASH have not told you is that eating a single bowl of Corn Flakes also causes endothelial dysfunction, bringing your coronary flow velocity reserve to similar levels as observed in active smokers.

Does that mean that eating a single bowl of Corn Flakes "causes heart damage similar to that in habitual smokers"?

Of course not. If any organization made such a claim, it would be attacked - and rightly so. Because it is an inaccurate extrapolation to tell the public that endothelial dysfunction is the same thing as heart damage. Obviously, you don't see cardiologists going around telling their patients not to eat even a single bowl of Corn Flakes because it can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.

The same phenomenon occurs after eating a single high-fat meal. And after consuming a single energy drink. And after experiencing acute mental stress. But it would obviously be untruthful to tell the public that consuming a single energy drink can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers. Or that a brief episode of mental stress causes heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers. So how could it then be truthful to tell the public that being exposed to secondhand smoke for a mere 30 minutes causes heart damage similar to that in habitual smokers?

The answer is that it is not truthful. Both ASH and ANR are disseminating lies to the public in making these statements, which exaggerate, extrapolate, and distort the science in a way that turns a potentially important piece of information into a lie.


For those interested, here are links to the articles which document impaired endothelial dysfunction, similar to that observed with a 30-minute secondhand smoke exposure, as a result of:

Eating a single bowl of Corn Flakes

Consuming a single high-fat meal

Consuming a single energy drink

Acute mental stress