The Diet That Poisons!

     I found the study I am about to describe quite startling. Perhaps you will too. Researchers placed 8 healthy subjects on a Western-style diet for one month. The diet contained 40% fat, not unusual for the average American. By the end of 30 days the levels of inflammatory toxins in the blood had increased by 71%. When the subjects were put on a diet that was only 20% fat inflammatory toxins in the blood dropped by 31% in a month.

     The researchers in this study were measuring lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a highly toxic product of the cell walls of bacteria. Accumulation of this compound is called endotoxemia because the toxins are part of the bacteria themselves rather than something the bacteria produce and release into the environment into which they live. The high fat diet actually promoted the growth of bacteria containing this substance.

     Physician David Perlmutter refers to LPS as "the incendiary device." He writes, "If there were ever a clear biological villain that flips on inflammatory pathways in the body, it would be lipopolysaccaride." It "induces a violent inflammatory response in animals if it finds its way into the bloodstream." LPS has been implicated in Alzheimer's, autism, depression, obesity, metabolic resistance, inflammatory disorders, and intestinal permeability.

     One animal study found that palm oil resulted in more endotoxemia related inflammation than did milk fat, sunflower or safflower oils in mice. This should serve as a warning that while palm oil has beneficial ketones which can improve brain health, an excess could be harmful. 

     The bottom line is consume only quality fats and these in moderation.

References:

Pendyala, Swaroop, et al., A high-fat diet is associated with endotoxemia that originates from the gut, Gastroenterology. 2012 May ; 142(5): 1100-1101.

Perlmutter, David, Brain Maker, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015, 56-60.

Laugerette, Fabiene, et al., Oil composition of high-fat diet affects metabolic inflammation differently in connection with endotoxin receptors in mice, American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism, February 2012;302(3):E374-386.