40 LISTENER NOVEMBER 5 2016
THIS LIFE
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Had a
bad day?
Scientists have found stress
may afect the way our
bodies process fats – which
has big implications for
disease prevention.
J
ust when you thought stress couldn’t
get any more bad press, US research-
ers have found it may cancel out the
benefits of healthier foods. An Ohio
State University clinical trial has revealed
that stress may significantly affect our
biological response to a meal containing
healthy fats. In fact, our response may be equiva-
lent to that produced by an unhealthy, saturated
fat-laden meal – prompting significant levels of
inflammation.
In a healthy person, inflammation is a help-
ful, normal response to certain triggers. However,
chronic inflammation is linked to an increased risk
of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some other
chronic diseases. Stress, diet and depression modify
the body’s inflammation levels.
A Mediterranean-style diet is associated with a
reduced risk of depression, cardiovascular dis-
ease, type 2 diabetes and mortality. The reduced
inflammation associated with this diet may be the
foundation of its benefits, because the
key fat source is olive oil. This oil is
rich in monounsaturated oleic
acids, which are anti-inflamma-
tory. In contrast, many Western
diets are high in palmitic acid, a
saturated fatty acid found in meat
and dairy products. Saturated fatty
acids such as palmitic acid triggerpro-inflammatory-signalling path-
ways, including those that increase
production of adhesion molecules,
which play a central role in the
development of atherosclerosis and
diabetes.
Understanding how diet, stress
and depression interact to affect
inflammation was the goal of a recent
double-blind clinical trial by Ohio
State University researchers. They
assigned 58 women to eat one
meal high in saturated fat and
another high in oleic sunflower
oil (unsaturated fat) on two
separate occasions. Both meals
had eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits
(a scone-like quick bread) and
gravy, amounting to
60g of fat and 3890kJ
of energy. This wasequivalent to the fat and energy
content of a fast-food meal, such as
a Burger King Double Whopper with
cheese, or a McDonald’s Big Mac and
medium french fries.
The women also reported anystressful events they’d experienced in
the previous 24 hours.
Stressors included, for example,
dealing with an elderly parent with
dementia who was resisting help, or
cleaning up paint spilt on the floorby Jennifer Bowden
NUTRITION
Professor Janice Kiecolt-Glaser
led the Ohio study.Understanding
how diet, stress and
depression interact to
afect inlammation
was the goal.