Inflammation Starts in the Gut! Kick the High Fat Diet Habit!

In other posts, I have noted that one way to reduce the effects of environmental illnesses is to maintain a healthy diet that is low in fat. The main reasons for this is that high fat diets (HFD) 1) lead to dysbiosis. In other words, an unhealthy gut full of unhealthy gut bacteria and 2) HFD leads to obesity, more oxidative stress and inflammation that can lead to diabetes. (1-2)  Of course, since many patients with environmental illnesses already have higher oxidative stress. Anything that increases it is just going to make symptoms worse.

According to one recent study out of Chicago, researchers demonstrated that a HFD alters gut bacteria that makes fat gain easier. What they found is that "germ free" mice did not gain weight even when fed a HFD. On the other hand, mice with a "normal intestinal environment" and fed a HFD had an increase in bacteria that alter fat absorption and a decrease in bacteria linked to leanness. (3)

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* Chemical in Broccoli May Help You Lose Weight!

*High-fat diet inhibits PGC-1α suppressive effect on NFκB signaling in hepatocytes. European journal of nutrition, Vol. 57, No. 5. (August 2018), pp. 1891-1900 by Wermerson Assunção A. Barroso, Vanessa Jacob J. Victorino, Isabela Casagrande C. Jeremias, et al.


1) Systemic low-grade inflammation is related to both circulating and adipose tissue TNFalpha, leptin and IL-6 levels in obese women. International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, Vol. 28, No. 8. (August 2004), pp. 993-997 by M. Maachi, L. Piéroni, E. Bruckert, et al.

2. High-fat diet: bacteria interactions promote intestinal inflammation which precedes and correlates with obesity and insulin resistance in mouse. PloS one, Vol. 5, No. 8. (16 August 2010) by Shengli Ding, Michael M. Chi, Brooks P. Scull, et al.

3).Gut bacteria Could Be One Reason a Junk Food Diet Makes Us Put on Weight. Sam Downing. Coach. Nine. Com. Au. April 12, 2018. https://coach.nine.com.au/2018/04/12/10/07/gut-bacteria-high-fat-diet

Salt May Contribute to Obesity By Overriding Feeeling of Fullness from Fat!

 

The tradition Western diet is high in sodium. According to a new study, salt may promote overconsumption of fat in humans. In the study, salt increased food and energy intakes by 11% independent of the quantity of fat in the food. There was no effect of fat on food intake but high-fat intake increased energy intake by 60%. It was determine that salt may override fat satiation in individuals who are sensitive to the taste of fat. This study demonstrated that salt may contribute to the problems of obesity.

Related: Drinking Water Helps Lower Consumption of Sugar, Sodium and Fat!



Salt Promotes Passive Overconsumption of Dietary Fat in Humans. The Journal of nutrition (2 March 2016) by Dieuwerke P. Bolhuis, Andrew Costanzo, Lisa P. Newman, Russell Sj S. Keast. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13971428

High-fat Diet Causes Stem Cells in the Gut to Develop Cancer!

 

The new study suggests an underlying mechanism through which this link might operate. It reveals the effect that a high-fat diet has on the biology of stem cells in the lining of the gut of mice and how this might make cancer more likely.

 High-fat diet may raise cancer risk by changing gut stem cells. Catharine Paddock, PhD. Medical News Today. February 3, 2016. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307349.php?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=56d845bc04d301108e103e5e&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

Change from High-Fat to Low-Fat Diet Reverses Diet Associated Cognitive Decline and Metabolic Syndrome!

 

One of the consequences of a long-term high fat diet is metabolic syndrome and a decline in cognitive function.  A dietary change from a high-fat to a low-fat diet can reverse these conditions.

 Amelioration of Metabolic Syndrome-Associated Cognitive Impairments in Mice via a Reduction in Dietary Fat Content or Infusion of Non-Diabetic Plasma. EBioMedicine, Vol. 3 (January 2016), pp. 26-42 by Lance A. Johnson, Kristen L. Zuloaga, Tara L. Kugelman, et al.

 

Common Food Additive Contributes to Diabetes!

Carrageenan is a food additive and made from red seaweed. It is commonly used a gelling agent in food such as ice cream and as emulsifiers in baked good and vitamin supplement shakes and powders. Some studies have shown the use of this additive is safe while others have shown negative health effects such as inducing colitis and a possible role in tumor growth.

In a new study, researchers set out to find if there would be any health impacts on mice exposed to carrageenan and a high-fat diet or each of the two factors alone for one year. During the study, it was found that the mice exposed to carrageenan exhibited glucose intolerance after 6 days and elevated glucose levels at 23 weeks. The effects of carrageenan were more severe in mice fed a high-fat diet. It was demonstrated that in mice fed both the carrageenan and a high-fat diet, they exhibited an earlier onset of hyperglycemia and higher glucose levels and worse dyslipidemia. From this study, the researcher's concluded that the additive carrageenan may contribute to the higher prevalence of the Western diet's development of diabetes and the other effects of high-fat consumption. (Bhattacharyya)
   

Exposure to Common Food Additive Carrageenan Alone Leads to Fasting Hyperglycemia and in Combination with High Fat Diet Exacerbates Glucose Intolerance and Hyperlipidemia without Effect on Weight. Journal of diabetes research, Vol. 2015 (2015) by Sumit Bhattacharyya, Leo Feferman, Terry Unterman, Joanne K. Tobacman. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13585976

Health Consequences Can Be More Severe When Multiple Environmental Toxicant Exposures Occur at the Same Time!

 

     When people are exposed to environmental toxicants, heath experts can not always predict the level of biological response. In other blogs, I discuss this and attribute it to the fact that every exposure is different in scope and intensity. In addition, every individual will react differently for a variety of reasons that include other environmental factors, overall health status and genetics. This is also true of multiple exposures at the same time or close together in time. With this in mind, scientists and health professionals must assess levels of all exposure to determine health consequences. Unfortunately, the health impacts of multiple exposures can be greater than the health impacts of exposures alone.  Beier et al has demonstrated this to be the case in their new study.
      Other studies have shown that "lead exposure and obesity are co-occurring risk factors for decreased bone mass, especially in low socioeconomic communities. In the Beier study, mice were exposed to a high-fat or low-fat diet. In addition, the mice were exposed to a lifetime of lead (Pb) in their drinking water. The results of the study showed the high-fat diet mice had increased body mass and glucose intolerance. Both the high-fat and lead increased fasting glucose and leptin. Both Pb and high-fat had reduced bone quality and the PB and high-fat together had a worse effect on thesame parameter. Mechanical bone properties of strength were depressed in Pb-exposed bone but was unaffected by a high-fat diet. Both agents promoted osteoclastogenesis and adipogenesis and decreased osteoblostogenesis. Combining Pb and fatty acids combined enhanced the effects of PPAR-y and  inhibited B-catenin.  The author noted that when studying toxicants, 'one must assess them together with other risk factors relevant to human health.'"
      Taking this into account, let us review another study that I mentioned earlier. In that study, it was shown that increased hypermethylation and a decrease in the expression of IFN-Y and regulator T cells occurred when the two toxicants, second-hand smoke and ambient air pollution,were combined. Generally, the decrease on the expression of the T cells and IFN-y was less severe when the exposures happened alone.


Effects of Combined Exposure to Lead and High-Fat Diet on Bone Quality in Juvenile Male Mice. Environmental health perspectives (10 April 2015) by Eric E. Beier, Jason A. Inzana, Tzong-Jen J. Sheu, et al. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13580466

Secondhand smoke in combination with ambient air pollution exposure is associated with increasedx CpG methylation and decreased expression of IFN-γ in T effector cells and Foxp3 in T regulatory cells in children. Clinical epigenetics, Vol. 4, No. 1. (2012), doi:10.1186/1868-7083-4-17 by Arunima Kohli, Marco A. Garcia, Rachel L. Miller, et al.  http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13578755