Washington, June 26 (ANI): Exactly how cornflakes, white bread, French fries and other high-carb foods increase the risk of heart problems has now been shown by Tel Aviv University researchers.

Dr Michael Shechter of the university’s Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center, who led the study in collaboration with researchers from the Endocrinology Institute, looked inside the arteries of students eating a variety of foods, and visualized exactly what happens inside the body when the wrong foods for a healthy heart are eaten.

He found that foods with a high glycemic index distended brachial arteries for several hours.

Elasticity of arteries anywhere in the body can be a measure of heart health. But when aggravated over time, a sudden expansion of the artery wall can cause a number of negative health effects, including reduced elasticity, which can cause heart disease or sudden death.

Dr Shechter used used a clinical and research technique pioneered by his laboratory in Israel to visualize what happens inside our arteries before, during and after eating high carb foods.

"It's very hard to predict heart disease," says Dr Shechter, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

"But doctors know that high glycemic foods rapidly increase blood sugar. Those who binge on these foods have a greater chance of sudden death from heart attack. Our research connects the dots, showing the link between diet and what's happening in real time in the arteries," he added.

The researcher believes that the finding of his study may lead to a whole new way to show patients the effects of a poor diet on the body.

During the study, 56 healthy volunteers were divided into four groups. One group ate a cornflake mush mixed with milk, a second a pure sugar mixture, the third bran flakes, while the last group was given a placebo (water).