It’s kind of common sense, isn’t it, that eating a lot of foods high in saturated fats — things like meat, butter, pastries and ice cream — would sabotage any efforts at weight loss.
However, the way those fats contribute to weight gain is more complex than we think…
The problem isn’t just the fat being added to your body as pounds. It’s what those fats do to your ability to lose weight in the first place and the metabolic dysfunction that leads to disease.
Here’s some research that has broken it all down for us — and a secret weapon to combat it…
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Dysregulation associated with weight gain
Dr. Tigist Tamir is an assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and a former postdoctoral researcher at MIT.
Along with Dr. Forest White of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Dr. Tamir is working on a new study that digs deep into how fatty foods disrupt our metabolism and cause weight gain that’s so hard to lose.
The doctors observed that many enzymes involved in the metabolism of fats and sugars are known to undergo phosphorylation, or the addition of a phosphate group.
This is all chemistry talk, I know, but stick with me here…
In mice that ate a high-fat diet, the phosphorylation of two specific enzymes, IDH1 and AKR1C1, rendered the enzymes dysfunctional, in a manner that impacts weight gain…
The two enzymes usually play a role in breaking down sugar and metabolizing fat, but the dysfunction interfered with their ability to do that. It caused an increase in insulin resistance and an accumulation of damaging molecules called reactive oxygen species (R.O.S., also known as free radicals). This caused the mice to gain weight and experience metabolic dysregulation, while mice on a healthier diet did not.
Antioxidants counter R.O.S. and fat
But here’s the good news: When the unhealthy mice were fed an antioxidant called BHA, the adverse effects were reversed, and the mice began to lose weight.
Mice who were treated with BHA showed a significant decrease in weight gain and did not become prediabetic, unlike the other mice fed a high-fat diet.
Dr. Tamir says, “They’re experiencing a lot of metabolic dysfunction, but if you co-administer something that counters that, then they have enough reserve to maintain some sort of normalcy.”
In other words, the damage done by a high-fat diet was undone by adding a powerful antioxidant to the mouse diet.
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A safer, natural antioxidant
The antioxidant used in this study was butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). BHA is a man-made, synthetic chemical often used as a food preservative in the U.S.
It’s been restricted or banned in some countries because of health concerns that it is carcinogenic and an endocrine disruptor. However, you can find supplements that contain low doses of it. Still, prolonged exposure carries those risks I mentioned.
But don’t get disappointed yet. Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that has also been shown to have a significant impact on fat metabolism.
Researchers at Washington State University, who also studied mice, found that resveratrol stimulates white fat to turn “beige” for enhanced sugar and fat-burning power.
The researchers simply gave the mice resveratrol supplements (equal to eating 12 fruits per day) and found that they gained 40 percent less weight than control mice who didn’t receive the supplements.
Professor of animal sciences Min Du, lead author of that study said, “Polyphenols in fruit, including resveratrol, increase gene expression that enhances the oxidation of dietary fats so the body won’t be overloaded. They convert white fat into beige fat which burns lipids off as heat — helping to keep the body in balance and prevent obesity and metabolic dysfunction.”
As far as safety, supplementing resveratrol gets a thumbs up. It’s also available in more than 70 plant species, especially the skins and seeds of grapes. Berries are also polyphenols and antioxidant-rich. Acai berries contain antioxidant levels so high, they can only be estimated.
Sources:
A high-fat diet sets off metabolic dysfunction in cells, leading to weight gain — Eureka Alert
Structural and systems characterization of phosphorylation on metabolic enzymes identifies sex-specific metabolic reprogramming in obesity — Molecular Cell
Read full article here