Study explores carb-loading's effect on the heart

Drinking a high carbohydrate shake can have an acute and detrimental effect on heart function, a study has found. Researchers studied 33 individuals who were given an acute carbohydrate load in the form of a 264-kilocalorie shake. They studied the subjects' blood levels for six hours looking for a number of things, chief among them whether this acute metabolic challenge could alter the heart's production of atrial natriuretic peptide.