High Fat Diet Alters Behavior and Produces Brain Inflammation

Angela

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Here is a link to the article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0326110954.htm

The testing was not done on humans. I'm also not sure how these results would hold out long term. However, I do believe that anything that causes inflammation in the body causes it in the brain as well, and affects brain functioning.

More and more often I am seeing studies that show that there are important connections between gut bacteria and overall health.

Ed. to correct link
 
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Angela the link is Re Richard the 111, I believe that brain inflammation could also trigger depression. I never heard the link between fat and brain inflammation. I read once that brain inflamation can be a side effect of certatin medications. It would be interesting to read the article.
 
The brain is composed of mostly fat. Fat retains all the flavours in food so information would be retained in the brain as it is a fat. The brain could not be water soluble or else the information would leach out, ha, ha. therefore low IQ or empty brain syndrome. Just jesting.
 
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Angela the link is Re Richard the 111, I believe that brain inflammation could also trigger depression. I never heard the link between fat and brain inflammation. I read once that brain inflamation can be a side effect of certatin medications. It would be interesting to read the article.


Thanks, Maleth....I was really pressed for time today, so I got sloppy.

Here is the actual link. I've also fixed the original post.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150326110954.htm

"A new study published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry raises the possibility that a high-fat diet produces changes in health and behavior, in part, by changing the mix of bacteria in the gut, also known as the gut microbiome."

"Non-obese adult mice were conventionally housed and maintained on a normal diet, but received a transplant of gut microbiota from donor mice that had been fed either a high-fat diet or control diet. The recipient mice were then evaluated for changes in behavior and cognition. The animals who received the microbiota shaped by a high-fat diet showed multiple disruptions in behavior, including increased anxiety, impaired memory, and repetitive behaviors. Further, they showed many detrimental effects in the body, including increased intestinal permeability and markers of inflammation. Signs of inflammation in the brain were also evident and may have contributed to the behavioral changes."

"Indeed, these findings provide evidence that diet-induced changes to the gut microbiome are sufficient to alter brain function even in the absence of obesity. This is consistent with prior research, which has established an association between numerous psychiatric conditions and gastrointestinal symptoms, but unfortunately, the mechanisms by which gut microbiota affect behavior are still not well understood."

They've known about the correlations between such things for a long time. Just as one example, people suffering from certain kinds of auto-immune disorders, which involve high and measurable levels of inflammation, show psychological effects which abate when inflammation levels decrease.

A friend of mine sent me the following link a while ago. There may be something to it. There are links to research studies...
http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/09/27/...ad-bugs-in-your-gut-that-make-you-sick/#close
 
Do they say if it was animal or plant fat?
I would be surprise to learn that high fat diet induces inflammations in humans. Especially in Northern hunter gatherers which are, and used to be, on very high fat diet.
 
I've read stuff about sugar and starches being the main cause of inflammation. But I generally find it hard to find out enough about a particular study, in terms of how the raw data was interpreted, who funded the study, etc., to have much confidence in the results of any of these theories. Some people seem to think that fat causes all problems and others see sugar/starch as the main villain. My own experience leads me to believe the latter theory, but I don't know whether that applies to all people or whether it's just how my own body reacts to food. It would be interesting to know whether this study controlled for the effects of sugar and starch. They're often a big part of a high fat diet.

The stuff about gut microbes is interesting. I think we'll be seeing further research on that subject.
 
I've read stuff about sugar and starches being the main cause of inflammation. But I generally find it hard to find out enough about a particular study, in terms of how the raw data was interpreted, who funded the study, etc., to have much confidence in the results of any of these theories. Some people seem to think that fat causes all problems and others see sugar/starch as the main villain. My own experience leads me to believe the latter theory, but I don't know whether that applies to all people or whether it's just how my own body reacts to food. It would be interesting to know whether this study controlled for the effects of sugar and starch. They're often a big part of a high fat diet.

The stuff about gut microbes is interesting. I think we'll be seeing further research on that subject.

It's just another topic where there is so much conflicting evidence that it's difficult to come to any conclusion. This is an article from the Harvard School of Public Health pointed out to me by my doctor that looks at all the studies and seems, for me, to come to some sensible conclusions. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats-full-story/

After talking about how saturated fat is worse than other kinds of fats, they say this:
"Cutting back on saturated fat will likely have no benefit, however, if people replace saturated fat with refined carbohydrates—white bread, white rice, mashed potatoes, sugary drinks, and the like. Eating refined carbs in place of saturated fat does lower “bad” LDL cholesterol—but it also lowers the “good” HDL cholesterol and increases triglycerides. The net effect is as bad for the heart as eating too much saturated fat—and perhaps even worse for people who have insulin resistance because they are overweight or inactive. (17,25)"

"Trans fats are worse for cholesterol levels than saturated fats because they raise bad LDL and lower good HDL. They also fire inflammation, (30) an overactivity of the immune system that has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. And they contribute to insulin resistance. (26) Even small amounts of trans fat in the diet can have harmful health effects. For every extra 2 percent of calories from trans fat daily, the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 23 percent. Eliminating industrial-produced trans fats from the U.S. food supply could prevent between 6 and 19 percent of heart attacks and related deaths, or more than 200,000 each year. (31)"

Trans fats aren't just present in fried fast foods...they show up in virtually all processed foods.
 
I had just assumed that the study was behind a pay wall, but in this case it isn't...
Here is the link to the full study:
http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(14)00520-4/fulltext

Some interesting stuff here:
"recent advances in 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and informatics have revealed that modern diets high in fat and sugar trigger robust alterations in the core gut microbiome (9)."

" To generate microbiota donor material, 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice (Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbor, Maine) were given regular chow diet (13% fat calories, Purina LabDiet 5001; LabDiet, St. Louis, Missouri) or high-fat diet (60% fat calories, Research Diets D12492; Research Diets, Inc., New Brunswick, New Jersey) for 10 weeks (see Table S1 in Supplement 1 for diet compositions."

Here is the chart showing the differences between the two diets. I'm really glad you asked me the question. The difference in terms of saturated fat is not that great, and in fact the "non-obese diet" is actually a little higher in it. However, the "obese diet" is higher in cholesterol. So, it looks like the major difference is in total fats and sucrose? High fat diet that led to obesity, brain changes, inflammation.JPG
 
O.K., now I'm like a dog with a bone...:)

I went to the website of the manufacturer...
http://www.researchdiets.com/open-source-diets/stock-diets/dio-series-diets

Click on 12451 for the high fat diet and you'll see it's mostly lard, with a minor amount of soybean oil.

Click on the low fat diet and it's still lard and soybean oil, but the total is far lower, and there is slightly more soybean oil than lard.

The results are probably muddied by the fact that the "plant" oil is a hydrogenated oil.

Bottom line...for me personally, I'll have my occasional steak, which I love, but most days I'll follow the Harvard study recommendations.
 
O.K., now I'm like a dog with a bone...:)

I went to the website of the manufacturer...
http://www.researchdiets.com/open-source-diets/stock-diets/dio-series-diets

Click on 12451 for the high fat diet and you'll see it's mostly lard, with a minor amount of soybean oil.

Click on the low fat diet and it's still lard and soybean oil, but the total is far lower, and there is slightly more soybean oil than lard.

The results are probably muddied by the fact that the "plant" oil is a hydrogenated oil.

Bottom line...for me personally, I'll have my occasional steak, which I love, but most days I'll follow the Harvard study recommendations.
I don't think lard is a natural mice diet. We shouldn't extrapolated on humans.
 
I don't think lard is a natural mice diet. We shouldn't extrapolated on humans.

Mice, like humans, will eat pretty much anything they can get their little paws on, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume that a direct comparison is misleading. And of course if a researcher fed humans a diet that was 45% lard, they'd probably get sick and die fairly quickly. I'm not sure that having a cheeseburger a couple of times a week is a comparable vice
 
I think I'm going to be in the mood for haddock and broccoli for dinner tonight. And maybe I'll skip the cheese sauce this time.
 
I`m hoping tomorrow when I get the chance to read the fuller study you gave Angela, there will be something [anything will do] that I can pick at because I am afraid I do like some fatty foods, now and then...but in such a cold place as I live, I think now and again, such is necessary...:LOL:
 
I think I'm going to be in the mood for haddock and broccoli for dinner tonight. And maybe I'll skip the cheese sauce this time.

:LOL::LOL::LOL:

Just stay away from any of these:
http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/news-10fatteningfastfooddishes/1/

This is probably a bad idea too, especially if you add double fries and a drink:
03223301_0347.jpg


I'm going to share a deep, dark secret...keep it to yourself...I really like the Kentucky Fried Chicken extra crispy breast and wing meal. Well, I did until I saw the calorie count...something like 1400 calories even without the drink. YIKES!:startled:
aS8txOZACr3OSraby-wXCO-2pc-breast-wing-meal-562x319.gif


On a recent trip I saw people every day breakfasting like this:
DSC_3355.jpg


I can't eat until I've been up for three hours, so it was a bit nausea inducing, but I could see the appeal later in the day. I don't think it would do anything for my girlish figure, however.:grin: I mean, even if you only add one more meal for the day, the calorie count is going to be pretty darn high.:sad-2:
 
For someone who otherwise seems to be quite modest by nature, you certainly seem to enjoy flaunting your love of food porn, Angela. LOL.

On a more serious note, those lovely photos seem to me to illustrate the difficulty in separating the alleged dangers of a high fat diet from the alleged dangers of a high starch and sugar diet when a cheeseburger or fried chicken is paired with fries or biscuits and a soft drink. The Atkins Diet fans would have us believe that one can safely eat as much animal fat as one chooses, provided starches and sugars are kept to a bare minimum. Of course, I think it might be wiser to limit fat, starch and sugar, but what would be the fun in that?
 
For someone who otherwise seems to be quite modest by nature, you certainly seem to enjoy flaunting your love of food porn, Angela. LOL.

On a more serious note, those lovely photos seem to me to illustrate the difficulty in separating the alleged dangers of a high fat diet from the alleged dangers of a high starch and sugar diet when a cheeseburger or fried chicken is paired with fries or biscuits and a soft drink. The Atkins Diet fans would have us believe that one can safely eat as much animal fat as one chooses, provided starches and sugars are kept to a bare minimum. Of course, I think it might be wiser to limit fat, starch and sugar, but what would be the fun in that?

Well, over and above any other considerations, there are rules about the other sort.:grin:

Seriously, none of the images of meals I posted actually appeal to me very much...quite the contrary for some of them...which makes it easy to be good...except for that fried chicken, that is. I don't know what it is about that chicken.
smile.gif


Last one, a publication from the Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/trans-fat/art-20046114
 
It's just another topic where there is so much conflicting evidence that it's difficult to come to any conclusion. This is an article from the Harvard School of Public Health pointed out to me by my doctor that looks at all the studies and seems, for me, to come to some sensible conclusions. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats-full-story/

I think this sums it all up. The more I read the more I get confused about the subject. There was a time when I used to think its a pretty straight forward subject, but looking at other peoples experiences and now my own experiences and results with different lifestyles I am not too sure there is a simplistic theory and its a far more complex situation (like many others) of to what contributes to what and I have also learned that there is no such thing as one size fits all situation.
 
Well, over and above any other considerations, there are rules about the other sort.:grin:

Seriously, none of the images of meals I posted actually appeal to me very much...quite the contrary for some of them...which makes it easy to be good...except for that fried chicken, that is. I don't know what it is about that chicken.
smile.gif


Last one, a publication from the Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/trans-fat/art-20046114

When I looked at the Mayo Clinic study, I noticed that the foods that they mention as being high in trans fats are almost all high in starch and many are also high in sugar. So, while the Mayo clinic may be right about trans fat, I don't think they've proven it.

I'd like to see a study done on people, using four groups. One would eat a diet high in vegetable content and, while it had sufficient protein from things like fish and legumes, it would be low in fat, starch and sugar. A second group would eat a diet with lots of fat (from foods people would normally eat) but low in sugar and starch. A third group would eat a diet that was low in fat but high in sugar and starch. The fourth group would eat a typical fast food diet that would be high in fat, sugar and starch. Once the members of the fourth group all died of heart disease or cancer, the researchers would test the health of the people in the other groups. I would expect to find that the members of the first group would be the healthiest but it would be interesting to see the results for groups two and three.
 
Mice, like humans, will eat pretty much anything they can get their little paws on, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume that a direct comparison is misleading. And of course if a researcher fed humans a diet that was 45% lard, they'd probably get sick and die fairly quickly. I'm not sure that having a cheeseburger a couple of times a week is a comparable vice
Isn't it Inuits natural diet?
 
I think this sums it all up. The more I read the more I get confused about the subject. There was a time when I used to think its a pretty straight forward subject, but looking at other peoples experiences and now my own experiences and results with different lifestyles I am not too sure there is a simplistic theory and its a far more complex situation (like many others) of to what contributes to what and I have also learned that there is no such thing as one size fits all situation.
It is confusing, because people react to food differently, as we are all a bit genetically different. We just can't consolidate East Indian diet, consisting mostly of vegetables and hot spices, with Eskimo/Inuit diet of mainly of raw meet and fat blubber. If you fly them to opposite menu cultures and introduce to local food, I'm sure, they will get violently sick. They both lack some genetic predispositions to digest foreign food, and they lack correct gut bacteria to help them digest it.
 

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