Tag Archive for 'Western diet'

Jama et al. call for the inclusion of dietary fiber in clinical guidelines for hypertension.

Dietary Fiber Consumption Reduces Blood Pressure, Prevents Cardiovascular Disease, Review Says

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

According to several international, regional, and national guidelines on high blood pressure, or hypertension, lifestyle interventions are the first-line...

Using an interventional study in healthy, normal-weight participants, Thanarajah et al. demonstrate that, independent of body weight gain and alterations in metabolic markers, exposure to high-fat/high-sugar food: (i) reduces preferences for low-fat food, (ii) plays a critical role in up-regulating brain responses to anticipation and consumption of highly palatable, energy-dense food, and (iii) has a generalized effect on the neuronal encoding of prediction errors in the context of associative learning and independent of food rewards. Taken together, repeated consumption of high-fat/high-sugar relative to isocaloric low-fat/low-sugar food, and in the absence of changes in body weight or metabolic state, can rewire brain circuits and thereby induce neurobehavioral adaptations. Hence, changing the food environment and reducing the availability of energy-dense high-fat/high-sugar food items is pivotal to combating the obesity pandemic. Image credit: Thanarajah et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.02.015.

Daily Consumption of Sweet and Fatty Snacks Alters Our Reward Circuits: Study

Mar 23, 2023 by News Staff

Western diets rich in fat and sugar promote excess calorie intake and weight gain; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To close this gap, researchers...

Kawano et al. show that intestinal microbiota protects against development of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and pre-diabetic phenotypes by inducing commensal-specific Th17 cells. Image credit: Kawano et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.08.005.

Dietary Sugar Disrupts Gut Microbiome, Says New Study

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Dietary sugar alters the gut microbiome, setting off a chain of events that leads to metabolic disease, pre-diabetes, and weight gain, according to a new...

Grape consumption reduces fatty liver, extends lifespan, alters gene expression in the brain, changes metabolism, and has positive effects on behavior and cognition. Image credit: Nicky Pe.

Addition of Grapes to Diet Improves Health and Lifespan, New Studies Suggest

Aug 11, 2022 by News Staff

Grapes contain polyphenols and flavonoids that are known for their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. Grape consumption reduces fatty liver,...

Diet-induced obesity results in Paneth cell dysfunction in humans and mice. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.04.004.

Western Diet Causes Damage to Immune Cells in Gut, Study Shows

May 19, 2021 by News Staff

Paneth cells, immune cells in the gastrointestinal epithelia, modulate innate immunity and infection. In Crohn’s disease, genetic mutations together...

Shively et al aimed to determine the effects of humanlike Western and Mediterranean diets on caloric intake, obesity, metabolism, and hepatosteatosis in an established nonhuman primate model of obesity. Image credit: Moira Nazzari.

Mediterranean Diet May Protect against Overeating and NAFLD

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

In a study on crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), a team of researchers at Wake Forest University found that the primates on a humanlike Mediterranean...

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Image credit: Kathryn Cross & Nikki Horn, Institute of Food Research.

Study: Dietary Fructose and Glucose Target Good Gut Bacteria

Dec 21, 2018 by News Staff

Dietary fructose and glucose, which are prevalent in the Western diet, silence a key protein that is necessary for gut colonization, but not for utilization...

The quality of diet and food intake has a vital role in AMD. Image credit: Rita E.

Healthy Diet May Lower Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Jul 6, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Diet may affect individuals’ risks related to the development and progression of age-related macular degeneration, a progressive chronic disease of the...

One diet doesn’t fit all, and what works for some may not be best for others. Image credit: Rita E.

Study: Diet Success Depends on Your Genes

Dec 11, 2017 by News Staff

A diet that makes one individual lean and healthy might have the complete opposite effect on another, according to a new study published in the journal...