Human & Planetary Health through Food Choices

Health news Update: High Fat Diets Promote Inflammation and Illness 6.22.26 Hello again: This news has been slow to surface with the popularity of keto and paleo dietary trends, but the following information is what is known about the typical Standard American Diet, also known as the Western Diet. “Conclusion : HFD-associated low-grade inflammation results from overlapping effects of dysbiosis and high fat intake, with crosstalk between microbiota and fat-driven inflammatory processes independent of gut flora involving multiple mechanisms. For this reason, it is difficult to determine what occurs first, thus, HFD-driven dysbiosis and HFD-related inflammation should be considered partially independent but closely correlated mechanisms.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8619527/ High fat promotes inflammation Bottom Line: As you all know by now, inflammation will cause, perpetuate, and/or aggravate every known illness or condition, including aging. The next logical question is what to eat? The answer is the Green Mediterranean food plan…which essentially going vegan but allowing some animal-based foods no more than 3 times per week. This takes some planning but is most easily achieved by using a ‘crowding out’ method. This is simply accomplished by including more and more unprocessed, whole plant-based foods in place of processed or fatty foods and naturally reducing those less than healthy items. Below is some more information to help you make the switch…knowing that you can improve your day-to-day nutrition by making small consistent upgraded choices is critical. Upgrades to improve your health path do not usually arise from one big resolution but from those small individual choices made every day…and these add up to some major improvements over several months and longer. “The gut microbiota is responsible for recovering energy from food, providing hosts with vitamins, and providing a barrier function against exogenous pathogens. In addition, it is involved in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier, crucial for the functional maturation of the gut immune system. The Western diet (WD)—an unhealthy diet with high consumption of fats—can be broadly characterized by overeating, frequent snacking, and a prolonged postprandial state. The term WD is commonly known and intuitively understood. However, the strict digital expression of nutrient ratios is not precisely defined. Based on the US data for 1908–1989, the calory intake available from fats increased from 32% to 45%. Besides the metabolic aspects (hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, sympathetic nervous system and renin-angiotensin system overstimulation, and oxidative stress), the consequences of excessive fat consumption (high-fat diet—HFD) comprise dysbiosis, gut barrier dysfunction, increased intestinal permeability, and leakage of toxic bacterial metabolites into the circulation. These can strongly contribute to the development of low-grade systemic inflammation.”