Saturated Fat
Episodes
Dr. Layne Norton and I discuss fat loss, resistance training, seed oils, the carnivore diet, artificial sweeteners, and much more.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick explores cheese's health impact, ergothioneine's longevity properties, sleep and joint supplements, and red light therapy in her latest Q&A.
In this clip, Dr. Ronald Krauss debunks common myths of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.
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Exercise Nutrition Obesity Metabolism Muscle Polyunsaturated Fat Saturated Fat Time-Restricted Eating Protein Weight Loss Strength SupplementsDr. Layne Norton and I discuss fat loss, resistance training, seed oils, the carnivore diet, artificial sweeteners, and much more.
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Rhonda Sleep Omega-3 Magnesium MRSA Estrogen Calcium Sauna Saturated Fat Arthritis Berberine Supplements CocoaDr. Rhonda Patrick explores cheese's health impact, ergothioneine's longevity properties, sleep and joint supplements, and red light therapy in her latest Q&A.
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In this clip, Dr. Ronald Krauss debunks common myths of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.
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In this clip, Ronald Krauss discusses the negative combinative effect of consuming added sugars and saturated fat together.
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Dr. Rhonda Patrick answers audience questions on various health, nutrition, and science topics in this Q&A session.
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In this clip, Dr. Eran Elinav describes research suggesting that the microbiome modulates fatty acid metabolism.
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In this clip, Dr. Dominic D'Agostino describes different approaches that allow the ketogenic diet to be more accessible.
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Rhonda Omega-3 Fasting Circadian Rhythm Mushroom Sugar Sauna Saturated Fat Vegetarian Protein Dairy NAD+ Cardiovascular SupplementsDr. Rhonda Patrick answers audience questions on various health, nutrition, and science topics in this Q&A session.
Topic Pages
News & Publications
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Adherence to the Mediterranean diet for one year promotes gut bacteria linked to healthy aging in older adults. www.sciencedaily.com
Frailty is a syndrome that commonly manifests in older adults. It carries an increased risk for poor health outcomes including falls, disability, hospitalization, and death. A key driver in the development of frailty is inflammation, which often accompanies diet-induced changes in the gut microbiota. Findings from a recent study suggest that eating a Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, and fiber, and low in saturated fat and red meat, alters the gut microbiome in older adults to reduce the risk of frailty.
The intervention study involved more than 600 older, non-, pre-frail, or frail older adults living throughout Europe. Roughly half of the participants followed a Mediterranean diet for one year, while the other half, which served as the control group, ate their regular diets. Before and after the one-year intervention, the authors of the study profiled the microbial makeup of the participants' gut microbiome. Whereas the microbiome of the participants from the northern European countries shared many similarities, the participants from Italy had a distinct microbiome.
At the end of the study, the participants who adhered to the Mediterranean diet showed reductions in biomarkers associated with inflammation (such as C-reactive protein and interleukin 17) and improvements in frailty-associated measures (such as handgrip strength, gait speed time, and cognitive function). The authors of the study observed notable changes in the participants' gut microbiomes, which were associated with higher numbers of bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids – byproducts of dietary fiber metabolism that reduce gut inflammation.
These findings suggest that dietary interventions that promote adherence to a Mediterranean diet may be beneficial in reducing the risk of developing frailty among older adults due to changes in gut microbiota and reduced inflammation.
Interestingly, some of the benefits observed among the participants in this study may be related to their increased intake of essential vitamins and minerals. Without these nutrients, the body has to compensate for the shortages – a concept known as “triaging.” Long-term compensation contributes to aging. Watch this clip in which Dr. Bruce Ames explains this phenomenon in what he calls his triage theory.
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When healthy, lean individuals ate a Western-style diet for one week, their hippocampal-dependent learning and memory and appetite control declined. royalsocietypublishing.org
The Western Style Diet, sometimes referred to as Standard American Diet (SAD), is a dietary pattern characterized by high intake of refined carbohydrates, fatty meats, added fats, and sodium, and low intake of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. The Western dietary pattern has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases and conditions, including overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Findings from a recent study suggest that the Western dietary pattern impairs hippocampus-dependent learning and memory and drives loss of appetite control.
The hippocampus is a small organ located within the brain’s medial temporal lobe. It is associated primarily with memory (in particular, the consolidation of short-term memories to long-term memories), learning, and spatial navigation. Data from rodent studies suggest that adherence to a Western dietary pattern impairs hippocampal-dependent learning and memory (HDLM). The hippocampus also plays a role in food intake by regulating appetite. Altered hippocampal function subsequent to exposure to a Western-style diet may create a vicious cycle state that promotes increased consumption of unhealthy foods that, in turn, drives further hippocampal dysfunction.
The study involved 110 lean, healthy Australian adults between the ages of 17 and 35 years who adhered to a healthy, non-restrictive dietary pattern. The authors of the study randomized the participants to either a one-week Western-style diet intervention group or a habitual-diet control group.
On the first and eighth days of the study, the participants in the Western diet group ate a breakfast that included a toasted sandwich and a milkshake (high in saturated fat and added sugar). On the second through seventh days of the study, the participants ate two Belgian waffles for either breakfast or dessert for four of the study days. On the other two study days, they obtained their main meal and a drink or dessert from a set of options from a popular fast-food chain. They followed their normal dietary pattern for all other meals. The participants in the control group ate a breakfast consisting of a toasted sandwich and a milkshake (low in saturated fat and added sugar) on the first and eighth days and followed their normal diet for all other meals.
The authors of the study assessed the participants' HDLM function as well as their appetite control before and after the intervention and control periods and again at a three-week follow-up assessment. They found that among those who followed the Western-style diet, HDLM performance declined, compared to the control group. Their appetite control declined as well, and this was strongly correlated with HDLM decline.
These findings suggest that even short-term consumption of a Western-style diet may impair learning and appetite control due to impaired hippocampal function. This lack of appetite control could promote overeating and drive weight gain.
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For the last year and a half, I have been on a ketogenic diet. Admittedly, it was heavy on saturated fat from dairy. Recently discovered that I have hypofunctioning PPAR-alpha genetics. Which now makes perfect sense because I could never get my ketones above 1 mmol, and my LDL skyrocketed (~190 on NMR, 86 when not in ketosis). Obviously, there were negatives to that dietary approach for me, but there were also a lot of positives. Not to mention, I would like to take advantage of the potential for longevity, decreasing cancer risk, etc that the ketogenic diet holds. Since learning this info (on top of the not so stellar labs), I have transitioned to a more Mediterranean diet with an emphasis on PUFA and MUFA. I’ve thought about doing periods of ketosis and fasting every now and then, while using PPAR-alpha agonists (like sesamin) to offset the genetic hypofunctioning. Would really like to get some insight on the safety, efficacy, etc of doing this.
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A high-fat diet promotes depression-like behavior in mice by suppressing hypothalamic PKA signaling papers.ssrn.com
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of depression. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether obesity is a causative factor for the development of depression and what is the molecular pathway(s) that link these two disorders. Using lipidomic and transcriptomic methods we identified a mechanism that links exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD) in mice with alterations in hypothalamic function that lead to depression. Consumption of an HFD selectively induced accumulation of palmitic acid in the hypothalamus, suppressed the 3´, 5´-cyclic AMP (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway, and increased the concentration of free-fatty acid receptor 1 (FFAR1). Deficiency of phosphodiesterase 4A (PDE4A), an enzyme that degrades cAMP and modulates stimulatory regulative G-protein (Gs)-coupled G protein-coupled receptor signaling, protected animals either from genetic- or dietary induced depression phenotype.
These findings suggest that dietary intake of saturated fats disrupts hypothalamic functions by suppressing cAMP/PKA signaling through activation of PDE4A. FFAR1 inhibition and/or an increase of cAMP signaling in the hypothalamus could offer potential therapeutic targets to counteract the effects of dietary or genetically induced obesity on depression.
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People who consumed 3-4 servings of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and a higher fat consumption (35% of energy) was associated with lower mortality. www.sciencedaily.com
A diet consisting more than 60% of energy from carbohydrates (including refined) was related to higher mortality, although not with the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research on dietary fats found that they are not associated with major cardiovascular disease, but higher fat consumption was associated with lower mortality; this was seen for all major types of fats (saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and monounsaturated fats), with saturated fats being associated with lower stroke risk. The data are from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study which followed more than 135,000 people from 18 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. The study asked people about their diet and followed them for an average of seven and half years. The data was adjusted for age, sex, energy intake, current smoking status, urban or rural location, physical activity, baseline diabetes, education, and other dietary variables (white meat, red meat, bread, and cereal intake). However, this is a prospective study which means causation cannot be established.