Posted on 09/10/2021 10:55:35 AM PDT by Red Badger
When rats are fed a high fat diet, this disturbs the body clock in their brain that normally controls satiety, leading to over-eating and obesity. That’s according to new research published in The Journal of Physiology.
The number of people with obesity has nearly tripled worldwide since 1975.[1] In England alone, 28% of adults are obese and another 36% are overweight.[2] Obesity can lead to several other diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.[3]
This new research may be a cornerstone for future clinical studies that could restore the proper functioning of the body clock in the brain, to avoid overeating.
Historically, it was believed that the master body clock was only located in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. However, further research over the years has clarified that some control of our body’s daily rhythms (hormone levels, appetite, etc.) lies in several other parts of the brain and body, including a group of neurons in the evolutionary ancient brainstem, called the dorsal vagal complex (DVC).
Specifically, the DVC has been shown to control food intake by inducing satiety.
Research has also shown that in obesity, daily rhythms in food intake and the release of hormones related to eating, are blunted or eliminated.
However, it has not been clear if the malfunctioning of brain centers controlling appetite is a cause or the result of obesity.
This new research conducted at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow in collaboration with the University of Bristol found that high-fat diet fed rats, before they started to gain weight, showed changes in the DVC’s daily neuronal rhythms and the response of these neurons to appetite hormones.
Thus, the researchers propose that disturbance in the DVC’s timekeeping leads to obesity, rather than being the result of excessive body weight.
The research was performed on two groups of rats: those fed a well-balanced control diet (10% kcal from fat) and a high-fat diet (70% kcal from fat).
To mimic the impact of unhealthy diet on humans, the researchers introduced the new diet to adolescent rats (4-week-old) and monitored their food intake across 24 hours for four consecutive weeks.
Electrophysiological recordings were performed to measure how DVC neuronal activity changes across 24h. The use of multi-electrode arrays allowed for simultaneous monitoring of around a hundred DVC neurons from each brainstem slice. This enabled the researchers to assess circadian changes of neuronal activity as well as neuronal responses to metabolically-relevant hormones in each of the diet groups.
While the human and mouse brainstem share common features, the major limitation of the study for its immediate translation to humans is that it was performed on nocturnal animals (rats). The peak of the DVC activity was observed at the end of day, which is the rest phase for rodents, but an active phase for people. Thus, it remains to be established if the phase of the brainstem clock is set to day and night, or whether it depends on patterns of rest and activity.
This study opens new research opportunities for trying to establish the strategy how to restore body clock function of the DVC, and therefore help tackle obesity.
Dr. Lukasz Chrobok, first author of the study said:
“I’m really excited about this research because of the possibilities it opens up to tackle the growing health issue of obesity. We still do not know what are the time cues which are able to reset or synchronize the brainstem clock. Hopefully, the restoration of daily rhythms in this satiety center before or after the onset of obesity may provide new therapeutic opportunities.”
Reference: “Rhythmic neuronal activities of the rat nucleus of the solitary tract are impaired by high-fat diet – implications for daily control of satiety” by Lukasz Chrobok, Jasmin D Klich, Anna M Sanetra, Jagoda S Jeczmien-Lazur, Kamil Pradel, Katarzyna Palus-Chramiec, Mariusz Kepczynski, Hugh D Piggins and Marian H Lewandowski, 6 September 2021, The Journal of Physiology. DOI: 10.1113/JP281838
Notes
1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
2. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/
3. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/
Gosh! Here I thought it was over eating!
Study brought to you by General Mills...eat wheat!
I go mostly paleo. We’ll see what happens...
Hardly my area of expertise, but it seems to me that a high carb diet leads to more obesity than high fat.
Paleo is great diet- add olive oil and (especially) coconut oil, and no wheat whatsoever
My thinking as well.
I eat a high fat diet. I sleep well and I have lost thirty pounds. Been on the diet for about 7 years. Weight is very stable. One question to ask though. Rats and people are not very similar. So what is this study supposed to tell us? How to waste grant money?
I’m carnivore .... fat fortify my meat, except for bacon (butter, olive oil, avocado oil) .... 65 lbs down, best health EVER.
So then Keto diets make you fat? Right.
Seems?
Next time you’re in a grocery store and see some lardo riding around in a cart, take a look at what’s in their basket.
Interesting. Its only one data point and maybe a coincidence, but now that I think of it the first time I got overweight happened the first time I had a grave yard shift job that messed with my sleep patterns.
I thought that fat was the most difficult thing for your body to turn into fat? Carbs being the easiest.
“Paleo is great diet- add olive oil and (especially) coconut oil, and no wheat whatsoever.”
I do. I occasionally us ghee as well.
I feel good, and my performance is good.
(Weightlifting, volleyball leagues and track & field sprints)
Humans aren’t lab rats, no matter how much Faux-Xi and Josef STOLIN seem to think they are.
A zillion other variables need to be controlled for.
Hi fat is bad for weight...unless you greatly reduce carb intake (ideally to keto levels)...then it is far better than other diets. But fat, overall, is EXCELLENT from a nutritional standpoint, despite what Fauchi and his bunch claim.
I thought it was sugar and carbs.
I'm sure there are carrots and celery buried somewhere under the sweetened cereal, pastries, and Doritos.
COVID cures obesity
I’ve been on keto for 4 months and have lost 20 lbs and counting. Twenty more lbs and I’m just above the weight I was when I got out of boot camp 40 years ago. Wheat and sugar are poison.
Looks like bogus research. No humans eat a diet that is 70% fat. In the real world excess carbohydrates are converted to fat by insulin, and fatty foods are often used for energy.
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