Vitamins may not be a cure-all for a high-fat diet, but a new study suggests that antioxidants can fend off at least one negative aspect of the occasional indulgence. University of Maryland cardiologist Gary Plotnick measured the effect of a fatty meal on one of the lesser-known problems associated with heart disease: a decrease in the ability of arteries to expand to accommodate increased blood flow. When his healthy volunteers ate a meal of an Egg McMuffin, a Sausage McMuffln and two orders of hash browns (900 calories, 50 percent fat), their arterial response was markedly impaired for two to four hours. But when the volunteers popped vitamin E (800 i.u.) and vitamin C (1 gram) before eating, the arterial response was similar to that following a low-fat meal of cereal and skim milk. Plotnick says that although his studies are preliminary, the results suggest that high-fat meals may contribute to coronary-artery disease by impairing normal blood-vessel response, and that antioxidant vitamins may intervene. Many details still need to be explored, including the effects of different types of fat and different of antioxidants.