Walk off that fatty breakfast

A 2007 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that if you take a walk right after you eat that saturated fat laden meal, you can actually reduce the food's chances of causing your blood vessels to narrow.

The researchers compared the arteries of eight 25-year-olds through three different study set-ups: eating a low-fat breakfast; eating a breakfast that was high in fat and then taking a 45-minute walk; and eating a high fat breakfast, only to then sit around on their butts for a while. It turned out when they ate a meal high in fat and then sat around, the researchers found a narrowing in these subjects' arteries.

After consuming a high-fat meal but then taking a walk, the subjects experienced a dilation in their blood vessels. And when they stuck to a low-fat meal but did not exercise, there wasn't much change at all. The most interesting part is that after the people ate the high-fat meal and then took a walk, their blood vessels became more dilated than when they ate the low-fat food and remained sedentary.