Diet Quality and Cardiac Outcomes: A Comparative Study in Mice
Faculty Mentor
Karin Melkonian
Area of Research
Biology
Major
Biology
Description
INTRODUCTION: Cardiac diseases have been on the rise since the introduction of processed foods to the human diet.
METHOD: The feeding study aimed to determine if rodent diets consisting of organic or standard (non-organic) pellets produced any cardiovascular effects, particularly whether mice eating an inorganic diet had larger hearts as an effect. The study contained 20 male mice (10 of which were fed organic mouse chow and 10 of which were fed only standard (non-organic) lab mouse chow) and ran for 6 months. Mouse hearts were removed, weighed, and measured with calipers. Heart weight-to-body weight ratios were used to determine heart size differences between organic versus non-organic fed mice.
RESULTS: Adding large amounts of ultra-processed foods into the diet increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death by coronary heart disease by over 5% (Napoli, 2026). Additionally, other research has shown that incorporating organic products into the diet can lower cardiac event likelihood, specifically atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, by 6% (Anderson et al., 2025).
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This study hopes to provide insight into the importance of diet to cardiovascular health, as it is suspected that those consuming organic chow will have smaller heart sizes than those eating non-organic chow.
Diet Quality and Cardiac Outcomes: A Comparative Study in Mice
INTRODUCTION: Cardiac diseases have been on the rise since the introduction of processed foods to the human diet.
METHOD: The feeding study aimed to determine if rodent diets consisting of organic or standard (non-organic) pellets produced any cardiovascular effects, particularly whether mice eating an inorganic diet had larger hearts as an effect. The study contained 20 male mice (10 of which were fed organic mouse chow and 10 of which were fed only standard (non-organic) lab mouse chow) and ran for 6 months. Mouse hearts were removed, weighed, and measured with calipers. Heart weight-to-body weight ratios were used to determine heart size differences between organic versus non-organic fed mice.
RESULTS: Adding large amounts of ultra-processed foods into the diet increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death by coronary heart disease by over 5% (Napoli, 2026). Additionally, other research has shown that incorporating organic products into the diet can lower cardiac event likelihood, specifically atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, by 6% (Anderson et al., 2025).
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This study hopes to provide insight into the importance of diet to cardiovascular health, as it is suspected that those consuming organic chow will have smaller heart sizes than those eating non-organic chow.