--- title: Deep-Fried Mars Bars Can Elevate Stroke Risk in Minutes, Study Finds description: Researchers find the fatty snack is a delicious health liability canonical: https://time.com/3442423/deep-fried-mars-bar-stroke-risk/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-28T21:24:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:13:27.584Z og:title: Deep-Fried Mars Bars Can Elevate Stroke Risk in Minutes, Study Finds og:description: Researchers find the fatty snack is a delicious health liability og:url: https://time.com/3442423/deep-fried-mars-bar-stroke-risk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9033592ac57497/6986a5be169ab0786827b6e9/ap986194654649.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Food in Scotland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Deep-Fried Mars Bars Can Elevate Stroke Risk in Minutes, Study Finds twitter:description: Researchers find the fatty snack is a delicious health liability twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9033592ac57497/6986a5be169ab0786827b6e9/ap986194654649.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eating Scotland's Favorite Fatty Snack Can Heighten Stroke Risk in Minutes, Study Finds by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 28, 2014 9:24 PM UTC  Food in Scotland. A deep fried Mars bar is prepared in a Glasgow chip shop ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Picture date: Monday April 7, 2014\. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire URN:19505513 Food in Scotland. A deep fried Mars bar is prepared in a Glasgow chip shop ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Picture date: Monday April 7, 2014\. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire URN:19505513Danny Lawson—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 28, 2014 9:24 PM UTC Scotland’s deep-fried Mars bar is a fatty and unhealthy snack nonpareil, and we all knew that a few too many greasy chocolate wads would kill you _someday_. But that day may actually be today, if you happened to be eating one right now. A [new study](http://scm.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/22/0036933014552359.abstract) suggests the 1200-calorie snack, made by battering and deep-frying a British chocolate bar [akin to a Milky Way](https://www.milkywaybar.com/nutrition#Original%5FSingle), could cause a stroke _within minutes of eating one_ by slowing blood supply to the brain. Men who already have narrow arteries are most in danger, [the Daily Record reports](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/health-fitness/deep-fried-mars-bar-raises-risk-4337366). Glasgow University researchers fed the loaded chocolate bar to 24 volunteers, and registered that within just 90 minutes, blood flow to the brain was “modestly” reduced in men, raising their risk of stroke. “Deep-fried Mars bar ingestion may acutely contribute to cerebral hypoperfusion in men,” the study concluded, noting that the same effects were not found among women. It sounds bad but it’s not exactly an unredeemable, one-way ticket to stroke city. “We’ve shown that eating a sugar and fat-laden snack can actually affect blood flow to the brain within minutes,” said William Dunn, who performed scans on volunteers. “This reduction in the reactivity of blood vessels in the brain has previously been linked to an increased stroke risk – but the changes we observed were modest.” The infamous Scottish snack was invented at the Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, in 1992 and is especially popular among tourists. 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