of course this feels obvious at surface level (unhealthy / heavy / spicy food = higher HR), but was surprising to see data confirm this!
these meals are both from the same day. data from Apple Watch, 3 hours post-meal.
this is sort of an indicator of "how hard is my heart working to digest this meal"
by abrownie_jr
13 Comments
this is cool. what are you using to track this?
I think this might be too granular and you might be a little too focused on moralizing a meal.
Edit: this data confirms nothing besides that the chilaquiles were a denser meal than the chicken and salad
Is a higher heart rate after a meal a bad thing?
unhealthy food = higher HR sounds deeply unscientific. feel free to provide a source of evidence though.
i get heart rate spikes from certain foods because of food intolerances, it could be for a different reason.
Just for the fried tortillas? Maybe because it’s spicy? I wouldn’t call chilaquiles an unhealthy food, you can replace fried tortillas for baked tortillas if that’s the issue.
Get more chicken and beans and avoid the dairy if that concerns you. Add some vegetables like lettuce and zucchinis, and some avocado.
I’m not sure how scientific this is. There are many variables in play here
Elevated heart rate could also be from caffeine, spice, or just the fact that it’s a heavier meal.
It’s not necessarily “unhealthy food” that raises heart rate. All meals raise heart rate as your body increases blood flow to your digestive system to digest food. A larger meal, caffeine, alcohol, sodium, fat and sugar among other things can all cause your heart rate to stay elevated longer.
I get PVCs from really salty food. Like subway sandwiches (40% DV of sodium in one 6” 330 calorie sandwich) reliably do it every time. Could be sodium- chilaquiles sound like a likely high-sodium item.
i usually get elevated heart rate from something with higher sodium content
correlation does not equal causation
Spicy food probably spiked your heart rate because thats how the body reacts to pain (the spicy). It has nothing to do with effort to digest the food.
It’s a problem when people can’t eat their cultural food without the food police coming for them. The first thing I hear people say getting a consult with my coworker who is a dietician is they’re afraid they can’t eat rice, spicy food, whatever their culture is. Maybe cheese doesn’t agree with you, maybe spice…but not all food has to be “Mediterranean” flavor profile to be healthy.