A recent study from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio indicated that the effects of stress can negate a lot of the benefits of a healthy diet. Patients with chronic stress were shown to have more of certain proteins that increase inflammation in the body. These changes can have a negative impact on cardio health.

Key Takeaways:

• I’m a long-time stress researcher, so in some ways it takes quite a bit to surprise me,” said Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, lead author of the study and director of Ohio State University’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine.
• The next day, they were fed a meal of biscuits and gravy with eggs and turkey sausage; it contained 930 calories with 60 grams of fat.
• Their importance is related to cardiovascular risk, that people who have higher levels” of these markers — indicative of inflammation — are at greater risk “for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes,” Ms. Kiecolt-Glaser said.

“The research team found that inflammation levels were, as one might predict, elevated after eating the meal with saturated fat and lower after eating the meal prepared with sunflower oil.”

http://www.toledoblade.com/Medical/2016/10/17/Stress-can-counteract-good-diet.html