Counteract Fatty Meals With This Fix

Regretting that fatty meal or snack you just inhaled? I feel your pain. No worries, though -- just hop outside or on a treadmill and get walking.

A recent study suggests that taking a walk can counteract the negative effects fatty foods have on your arteries. Here's how: Eating high-fat foods breaks down the endothelium (the layer of cells responsible for preventing heart disease) in your arteries. But walking after you eat these foods helps your arteries recover. Amazingly, it helps them get stronger too. The experts at Family Circle magazine (November 29, 2008) recommend this walking workout for maximum benefits.

• Walk slowly for five minutes to warm up at an intensity level of two (about 2.5 mph on a treadmill).
• Walk briskly for 45 minutes at an intensity level of five (about 4 mph on a treadmill).
• Walk leisurely for five minutes to cool down at an intensity level of three (about 3 mph on a treadmill).

Think walking isn't enough to combat the effects of fatty foods? Try fighting the fat by slashing the worst of it from your diet.