Posted on 09/09/2019 2:16:29 PM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers say that a diet too high in fat could change microglial cells in the brain, causing animals -- including humans -- to consume more in order to satisfy energy needs, and become obese.
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In mice, consumption of a high-fat diet caused physical changes to the brain, seemingly making the body seek more food to satisfy energy requirements. File Photo by Gena73/Shutterstock
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Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Hamburgers, french fries, pastries and other fat-filled foods can create neurological changes that may lead to obesity, a new study says.
During an experiment, mice who ate a high-fat diet experienced hypothalamic inflammation which caused physical changes to their microglial cells, researchers report in a study published this month in Cell Metabolism.
The cells, which draw energy from food, were considerably smaller in the animals. The study suggests this leads them to consume more food to stay properly energized, researchers say.
"We were intrigued by the fact that these are very fast changes that occur even before the body weight changes, and we wanted to understand the underlying cellular mechanism," Sabrina Diano, a researcher at Yale University and study lead author, said in a news release.
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The researchers found shrinkage of the microglial cells' mitochondria was caused by Uncoupling Protein 2, or UCP2, which controls energy use in the cells. This, in turn, influences the hypothalamus' ability to regulate energy and glucose homeostasis, which could lead to overeating.
The high-fat diet triggered inflammation that caused UCP2 to activate the microglial cells. That interaction affected neurons in the brain, which led to mice in the high-fat diet group to consume more food and become obese.
But when the researchers removed UCP2 from the cells, the mice ate less and became less likely to gain weight.
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The researchers want to continue to learn more about the connection between the microglia and various diseases of the brain, like Alzheimer's disease. The neurological condition has been linked to changes in microglial cells, according to the National Institutes of Health.
"There are specific brain mechanisms that get activated when we expose ourselves to specific type of foods," Diano said. "This is a mechanism that may be important from an evolutionary point of view. However, when food rich in fat and carbs is constantly available it is detrimental."
I occasionally get a protein-style burger at In-N-Out.
I have had people tell me that.
My suspicion is it varies quite a bit by individual.
The research I have read is low carb diets, statistically work for some weight loss, then end with little gain after a couple of years.
If there were significant variation in the population, where the diet benefited some,and was bad for others, that could lead to the same result.
He did say that grass-fed beef is fine.
It also depends on the quality of fats you are eating. You have to make sure you are eating high-quality Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Munching on Pork Rinds all day isn’t going to get it done, although I supposed technically it could be called “Keto”.
Yum! Bring it on. That’s what we’re having tonight - a big fat juicy cheese burger without the carby bun and a side of pork rinds with guac. Climbing back on the low carb train.
Whew, prices at the grocery store today have gone up 20% from what I quickly saw. Our store is is having a 10% off the store brand but guess that’s just to ease us into the full 20% increase on Thursday. Cheap 73% ground beef was $2/lb. It has gone from $15/10 lbs to $20 in the past year or so.
Even the over ripe bananas have gone up to $1 a bag. Putting them up in the freezer to make Christmas banana bread for the neighbors. The ok bananas will become banana chips for a birthday present in a couple days along with a banana bread as they’re not LC.
All I know is, since going Keto, I’ve lost weight, feel better, BP is down, and my blood work numbers are great.
But yes, it’s fair to say that your mileage may vary, and if you have known health issues, it’s best to consult with your doctor, first.
Ditch the buns, use Portobello mushrooms grilled with a little butter for buns...............
Portobello mushroom 'buns'...............
Yes, anti biotics, growth hormones etc, reside in the fat of animals that are treated with such.
Even on LC, I have to count calories but it’s easier limiting them with LC than with high carbs.
Some advice I heard is to get leaner cuts of meat and just add Butter or Coconut oil to provide the fat.
Fair enough. That may be true. Can't honestly say because the full paper is behind a paywall. It's easy to pick on the press story because of the obvious stupidity. So let's stick with the study.
Here's the summary:
"Microglia play a crucial role in immune responses, including inflammation. Diet-induced obesity (DIO) triggers microglia activation and hypothalamic inflammation as early as 3 days after high-fat diet (HFD) exposure, before changes in body weight occur. The intracellular mechanism(s) responsible for HFD-induced microglia activation is ill defined. Here, we show that in vivo, HFD induced a rapid and transient increase in uncoupling protein 2 (Ucp2) mRNA expression together with changes in mitochondrial dynamics. Selective microglial deletion of Ucp2 prevented changes in mitochondrial dynamics and function, microglia activation, and hypothalamic inflammation. In association with these, male and female mice were protected from HFD-induced obesity, showing decreased feeding and increased energy expenditure that were associated with changes in the synaptic input organization and activation of the anorexigenic hypothalamic POMC neurons and astrogliosis. Together, our data point to a fuel-availability-driven mitochondrial mechanism as a major player of microglia activation in the central regulation of DIO."
So what they really have is a mouse study where they observed some biochemical effects, which they speculate, if they apply to humans, they might make humans want to eat more.
OK. Nothing wrong with speculation if you recognize it for what it is. But many many people have run this experiment on their own and the near universal result is that they don't do this. On a high fat diet people eat less.
Or, maybe not.
Ping.
Which by definition is going to be much lower in sugar and carbs. Which is a great improvement.
"I've avoided beef and milk fat. The best nutrition lecture I ever went to, the speaker said that the chemicals used in beef and meat settle in the fat. Avoid the fat, avoid the chemicals."
Except that most of these "chemicals" aren't things you need to worry about, and that you can get food from better raised animals. Also whatever effects might be causing concern here are vastly outweighed for most people by the fact they will be replacing much more dangerous foods. Sugar and refined carbs.
They should properly be referred to as “Big Carb”.
The only thing that gets me into trouble sometimes is nuts, it’s very easy to consume hundreds of calories in a short amount of time. Otherwise, doing Keto and IF, it’s a challenge to actually get in my daily caloric requirement. I have a big salad, full of avocados and vegetables, and that generally fills me up enough where I have about a 4 oz. portion of meat, and I’m stuffed.
If you don’t have Insulin Resistance, you’re probably fine with your diet.
Keto, combined with Intermittent Fasting, helps to reduce Insulin Resistance.
Fat wakens your mind to the taste and needed fats.
It's more vegan BS, probably. I've always been able to eat without gaining a pound. A ton is more like it.
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