You Will Stop Eating Fat If You Know This

A new study in mice shows that just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat can cause all sorts of health problems.

Problems caused by saturated fat are related to memory and brain inflammation - Photo: NEUROSCIENCE NEWS

Problems caused by saturated fat are linked to memory and brain inflammation in older adults, according to Neuroscience News.

The harmful effects of saturated fat on the brain

Researchers fed groups of young and old mice a high-fat diet for either three days or three months. They then compared the rate at which changes occurred in the brain, compared to the rest of the body, when fed the unhealthy diet.

As predicted based on previous studies on diabetes and obesity, three months of high-fat diets led to metabolic problems, intestinal inflammation, and significant changes in gut bacteria in all mice, compared to those fed normal diets. Meanwhile, just three days of high-fat diets did not cause any major changes in metabolism or digestion.

However, when looking at changes in the brain, the researchers found that only the old mice, whether on a high-fat diet for three months or three days, performed poorly on memory tests and developed inflammation in the brain.

These results refute the idea that diet-related inflammation in the aging brain is caused by obesity, according to lead author Ruth Barrientos, a researcher at the Ohio State University Behavioral Medicine Research Institute.

Most research on the effects of high-fat, processed foods on the brain has focused on obesity. However, the effects of unhealthy diets, independent of obesity, have not been well studied.

“Unhealthy diet and obesity are related, but they are not inseparable. We are looking at the direct impact of diet on the brain. And we have shown that in the three days, well before the transition to obesity, there are significant changes that occur,” said Barrientos, who is also an associate professor of psychiatry, behavioral health, and neuroscience at The Ohio State University School of Medicine.

“We would never have known that brain inflammation was the primary cause of memory impairments caused by a high-fat diet without comparing these two time points,” he stressed.

The condition is worse in older adults.

Years of research in Barrientos' lab have shown that an unhealthy diet can worsen brain aging in older adults.

Fat accounted for 60% of the calories in the diet used in the study, comparable to some popular fast foods.

After the animals were placed on a high-fat diet for either three days or three months, the team administered memory tests common in older adults with dementia.

Compared with animals fed a normal diet and young mice fed a high-fat diet, the old mice showed memory impairment after just three days of eating a high-fat diet. This persisted when they continued on the diet for three months.

The researchers also found changes in cytokine levels in the old mice after three days of high-fat diet, suggesting a disrupted inflammatory response.

Compared with mice fed a regular diet, both young and old mice gained more weight and showed signs of metabolic disturbances, poor insulin and blood sugar control, inflammation, and changes in the gut microbiome. However, the memory, behavior, and brain tissue of young mice were not affected by the high-fat diet.

“These diets led to obesity-related changes in both young and old mice, but the young mice appeared to be more resistant,” Barrientos said.

The study was recently published in the journal Immunity & Ageing .

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-se-ngung-an-nhieu-chat-beo-neu-biet-duoc-dieu-nay-20250312230128007.htm