Inspired by this news story:
http://consumerist.com/2012/02/man-suffers-heart-attack-at-unfortunately-named-heart-attack-grill.html
Obviously, a history of unhealthy eating can increase the risk of a heart attack ,and presumable this man was at risk. My question is, if you have the risk of a heart attack, could eating a big unhealthy meal push you over the edge right then and there, or is it more likely to be an unfortunate coincidence?
In the same sense that the large fries will give you high blood pressure, and the big gulp soda will give you diabetes.
I’m sure consuming a HUGE, man vs. food-style burger or meal could trigger a heart attack in someone who was already in poor cardiac health. But it would be in the same way that a sudden shock, exercise, having sex, or getting out of bed in the morning can (most heart attacks occur within 5 minutes of waking up IIRC), not a matter of the burger’s cholesterol finally clogging up that last little coronary artery.
It is possible for a large meal (probably regardless whether comprised of ‘healthy foods’ or not) to trigger a heart attack (cite). In addition to what’s in the reference, I can think of at least three contributing mechanisms:
The act of eating, especially with respect to a large meal, diverts blood to the stomach and intestines. So, if someone had zero reserve, such ‘shunting’ of blood could put them over whatever threshold was required to have a heart attack.
With eating, and in particular with the eating of carbohydrates (and also protein, albeit to a lesser degree), insulin is released. One effect of insulin that doesn’t get a lot of air time is its ability to activate the adrenergic or sympathetic nervous system (i.e. basically the ‘fight or flight’ part of the nervous system). As a result, heart rate and blood pressure (and other stressors of the heart) are increased, thus potentially precipitating a heart attack in an ‘at risk’ individual’.
Third, and as discussed in the reference above (same link), both alcohol and caffeine are well documented triggers of heart attacks. Since both of these substances often accompany meals (whether large or small, mind you), they provide another link between having a (large) meal and having an acute heart attack.