Posted on 11/14/2022 9:24:15 PM PST by ConservativeMind
A study in mice suggests that a short-term exposure to a high-fat diet may be linked to pain sensations even in the absence of a prior injury or a pre-existing condition like obesity or diabetes.
The study compared the effects of eight weeks of different diets on two cohorts of mice. One group received normal chow, while the other was fed a high-fat diet in a way that did not precipitate the development of obesity or high blood sugar, both of which are conditions that can result in diabetic neuropathy and other types of pain.
The researchers found that the high-fat diet induced hyperalgesic priming—a neurological change that represents the transition from acute to chronic pain—and allodynia, which is pain resulting from stimuli that do not normally provoke pain.
"This study indicates you don't need obesity to trigger pain; you don't need diabetes; you don't need a pathology or injury at all," said Dr. Michael Burton. "Eating a high-fat diet for a short period of time is enough—a diet similar to what almost all of us in the U.S. eat at some point."
Burton and his team looked for saturated fatty acids in the blood of the mice fed the high-fat diet. They found that a type of fatty acid called palmitic acid—the most common saturated fatty acid in animals—binds to a particular receptor on nerve cells, a process that results in inflammation and mimics injury to the neurons.
"The metabolites from the diet are causing inflammation before we see pathology develop," Burton said. "Diet itself caused markers of neuronal injury."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I eat a high fat diet and am lucky to have almost no pain. But of course, I’m not a mouse!
I’m a bit skeptical of extrapolating animal experiments to humans. I recall that xylitol mints are very good for my teeth, but would be deadly for a dog.
There are millions of mice studies whose findings didn’t translate to humans.
So probably the best diet is more vegetables, lean meats, some fats and limited dairy and carbohydrates.
The headline is VERY misleading. Fats can not be lumped together. The “study” looked at one type of fat known to be unhealthy. For example, MCTs (medium length triglycerides) are good. But even in that category there are different varieties based on 8 to 16 carbon atoms, with some better than others.
High fat diet = heart stents or bypass, eventually.
The usual “condemn all fats” with another crappy mouse study.
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