Western Diet Study: A Western Diet May Permanently Change Our Immune Systems by Mei Marcie

There's a lot of research about how diet can help us lose weight or improve our health, but we should also focus on diets to avoid. Various studies have linked the negative effects of a Western diet, broadly categorized as one with high fat, high carbohydrates, low fiber and fast food. We may think that a bad diet is reversible, but the latest study (conducted in mice) indicated possible permanent alteration to our immune system from consuming a Western diet for just a month!

Researchers at University of Bonn, Germany, fed atherosclerosis-prone (plaque buildup in the arteries) mice a Western diet versus another group of mice with a healthier cereal diet. After just a month, it was found that a Western diet had switched on many genes in the progenitor cells (cells that can split into different cells), including some that increase proliferation and enhance responses from the innate immune system. This resulted in an acute inflammation condition in mice. The significant finding was even after switching back to healthy diet, the immune system "remembered" the triggers. The study was published in the journal Cell. 

This study is a reminder that healthy diet is important! Read more about a Western diet permanently altering the immune system via MNT.

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