Cranberries, Microbiota and Metabolic Disease

An April 2024 study by Université Laval said,

• “… these bacteria are stimulated by dietary fibre consumption. We observed the same effect with cranberry extract with a dose almost 20 times lower,"

• “[The] diet alters the microbiota, causes inflammation of the mucosa, and compromises the integrity of the intestinal barrier, which plays a crucial role in protecting the body from bacteria present in the gut. Alteration of the intestinal barrier allows the passage of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) derived from the intestinal microbiota, known as metabolic endotoxemia, and is a crucial factor in the onset and progression of inflammation and metabolic diseases,”

• “The constant inflammation that results from the presence of LPS in the body can lead to several chronic diseases, including diabetes, and cardiovascular disease,”

Stress, inflammation and Metabolic Syndrome

A January 2024 study by Ohio State University said,

• “We were specifically examining people in midlife – a time that is critical to determine those who will experience accelerated aging. Stress is an important contributor to several negative health outcomes as we age,”

• “There are many variables that influence metabolic syndrome, some we can’t modify, but others that we can. Everybody experiences stress,”

• “And stress management is one modifiable factor that’s cost-effective as well as something people can do in their daily lives without having to get medical professionals involved.”

• “There’s not much research that has looked at all three variables at one time,” said Jurgens, a psychology graduate student in Hayes’ lab. “There’s a lot of work that suggests stress is associated with inflammation, inflammation is associated with metabolic syndrome, and stress is associated with metabolic syndrome. But putting all those pieces together is rare.”

• Inflammation composite scores were calculated using biomarkers that included the better-known IL-6 and C-reactive protein as well as E-selectin and ICAM-1, which help recruit white blood cells during inflammation, and fibrinogen, a protein essential to blood clot formation.

• The statistical modeling showed that stress does indeed have a relationship with metabolic syndrome, and inflammation explained over half of that connection – 61.5%, to be exact.

• “There is a small effect of perceived stress on metabolic syndrome, but inflammation explained a large proportion of that,”

• “People think of stress as mental health, that it’s all psychological. It is not. There are real physical effects to having chronic stress,”

• “It could be inflammation, it could be metabolic syndrome, or a number of things. This is another reminder of that.”

Nuts and Metabolic Syndrome

A December 2023 study published in the journal Nutrients said,

• “We know that snacking contributes almost 25% of total daily calories in young adults in the U.S.,”

• “Substituting typical high carbohydrate snacks with tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts) would likely have a positive impact in reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome and its consequences in this age group.”

• “We need to encourage people—especially those Millennials at risk for MetSx—to get their handful of nuts every day.”

processed foods and obesity

A November 2022 study by the University of Sydney said,

• “As people consume more junk foods or highly processed and refined foods, they dilute their dietary protein and increase their risk of being overweight and obese, which we know increases the risk of chronic disease,” 

• “It’s increasingly clear that our bodies eat to satisfy a protein target,” 

• “Humans, like many other species, have a stronger appetite for protein than for the main energy-providing nutrients of fats and carbohydrates. That means that if the protein in our diet is diluted with fats and carbohydrates, we will eat more energy to get the protein that our bodies crave.”

• “The problem with randomised controlled trials is that it treats diet as a disease, when it’s not,” 

• “Laboratory studies may not be indicative of what people are actually eating and doing at a population level. So this study is important as it builds on work, showing that people do seek out protein. And it confirms that, at a population level, as the proportion of energy from protein increases in the diet, people eat less fats and carbohydrates.”

• “The results support an integrated ecological and mechanistic explanation for obesity, in which low-protein, highly processed foods lead to higher energy intake in response to a nutrient imbalance driven by a dominant appetite for protein,” 

• “It supports a central role for protein in the obesity epidemic, with significant implications for global health.”

• “The protein mechanism in appetite is a revolutionary insight,” 

• “Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease - they’re all driven by diet, and we have to use what we’re learning to bring them under control.”

late-night eating,weight gain, diabetes

An October 2022 study on mice by Northwestern Medicine said, 

• "It is well known, albeit poorly understood, that insults to the body clock are going to be insults to metabolism,” 

• “When animals consume Western style cafeteria diets — high fat, high carb — the clock gets scrambled,” 

• “The clock is sensitive to the time people eat, especially in fat tissue, and that sensitivity is thrown off by high-fat diets. We still don’t understand why that is, but what we do know is that as animals become obese, they start to eat more when they should be asleep. This research shows why that matters.”

• “We thought maybe there’s a component of energy balance where mice are expending more energy eating at specific times,”

• “That’s why they can eat the same amount of food at different times of the day and be healthier when they eat during active periods versus when they should be sleeping.”

• “We need to figure out how, mechanistically, the circadian clock controls creatine metabolism so that we can figure out how to boost it,” 

• “Clocks are doing a lot to metabolic health at the level of fat tissue, and we don’t know how much yet.”

High aerobic fitness and metabolic syndrome

An October 2022 study by the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Eastern Finland said,  

• “Our results show that being overweight or obese increases the risk of metabolic syndrome regardless of the level of aerobic fitness,” 

• “Instead of focusing on aerobic fitness, preventing metabolic syndrome should start with increasing physical activity, improving diet quality, and controlling weight.”

sucrose and high fructose corn syrup and health risks

An August 2021 study by University of California, Davis, said,

• “This is the first dietary intervention study to show that consumption of both sucrose- and high fructose corn-sweetened beverages increase liver fat and decrease insulin sensitivity,” 

• “People often have a skewed perspective of aspartame and give sucrose a pass, but this study suggests that consumers should be equally concerned about both major added sugars in our food supply.”

• “Within the span of two weeks, we observed a significant change in liver fat and insulin sensitivity in the two groups consuming sucrose- or high fructose corn syrup-sweetened beverages,” 

• “That’s concerning because the prevalence of fatty liver [nonalcoholic fatty liver disease] and Type 2 diabetes continues to increase globally.”

• “It’s all physiologically connected, although we’re not sure [in what] direction it goes,” 

• “It’s very likely that the mechanism by which we develop metabolic syndrome goes through liver fat and insulin resistance. An increase in liver fat can be benign for a certain amount of time and for certain people. But it can also progress to associated inflammation in liver cells that causes fibrosis and negatively impacts liver function, which can make an individual more prone to liver cancer.”

Link between Inflammation and Metaboblic Syndrome

Another study regarding the Dietary Inflammatory Index.

A 2017 study by the University of South Carolina entitled “Association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index, Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Metabolic Syndrome” the researchers concluded,

“the results of this study suggest an association between the [Dietary Inflammatory Index] and some [metabolic syndrome - the medical term for a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension) and obesity.] components; 

“however, this conclusion may be limited by the cross-sectional nature of the study, the use of self-reported data, participation of men and women from very specific geographic regions (Poland’s Świętokrzyskie Province and the city of Kielce), and an abbreviated FFQ (inquiring about only 55 food items).” 

Heart Disease and Diabetes

An April 2021 study by Bichat-Claude Bernard Hospital, France, said, 

"Obesity and lack of exercise are common risk factors for both diabetes and heart disease and our results highlight the urgent need to improve nutrition and raise activity levels globally," 

"Countries worst affected by diabetes are also at the epicentre of the obesity epidemic, which can be in part attributed to urbanisation and associated changes in physical activity and food intake."

"Diabetes was linked with worse outcomes even in areas with the lowest prevalence. In Europe, for instance, diabetes was linked with a 29% greater risk of the combined outcome of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death. This indicates that management of these very high-risk patients with heart disease and diabetes should be improved. Each country needs to identify these patients and provide tailored educational and prevention programmes."

"The importance of healthy eating and living cannot be overemphasised. Everyone can lower their chances of developing diabetes with weight control and exercise, and early detection is needed so that blood sugar can be controlled. Those with heart disease and diabetes also need an active lifestyle and a good diet to protect their health. Avoiding smoking is crucial, as is controlling blood pressure and cholesterol levels."

herbal and dietary supplements for weight loss

A May 2021 study by the University of Sydney said, 

"Over-the-counter herbal and dietary supplements promoted for weight loss are increasingly popular, but unlike pharmaceutical drugs, clinical evidence for their safety and effectiveness is not required before they hit the market", 

"Our rigorous assessment of the best available evidence finds that there is insufficient evidence to recommend these supplements for weight loss. Even though most supplements appear safe for short term consumption, they are not going to provide weight loss that is clinically meaningful."

"Herbal and dietary supplements might seem like a quick-fix solution to weight problems, but people need to be aware of how little we actually know about them”

"Very few high-quality studies have been done on some supplements with little data on long-term effectiveness. What's more, many trials are small and poorly designed, and some don't report on the composition of the supplements being investigated. The tremendous growth in the industry and popularity of these products underscores the urgency for conducting larger more rigorous studies to have reasonable assurance of their safety and effectiveness for weight loss."

metabolic pathways and disease

A March 2021 study headed up by Dr. Claudia Langenberg, looked at a number of unassociated metabolic processes linked to various diseases.

"We wanted to know whether there are certain markers in the blood that indicate a risk, not only for one but for several diseases at the same time," 

"We found, for example, that an increased concentration of the sugar-like molecule N-acetylneuraminate increased the risk of no less than 14 diseases," 

"Gamma-glutamylglycine, on the other hand, is exclusively associated with the occurrence of diabetes. Other members of the same molecular groups simultaneously increase the risk of liver and heart disease." 

"Overall, we observed that two-thirds of the molecules are associated with the occurrence of more than one disease. This is in line with the fact that patients often develop a range of diseases in the course of their lives. If we succeed in influencing these key factors, this could make it possible to counter multiple diseases simultaneously."

Sitting, Insulin Resistance, and Heart Disease

A February 2020 study by the Arizona State University College of Health Solutions said,

“We were surprised to observe such a strong negative link between the amount of time spent sitting and insulin resistance, and that this association was still strong after we accounted for exercise and obesity,"

"The findings of this study build upon earlier research including our own, which showed, among older women, that too much time in sedentary behaviors was associated with higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Reducing sitting time improves glucose control and blood flow, and engaging in physical activities, even light-intensity daily life activities like cooking and shopping, show favorable associations with reduced mortality risk and prevention of heart disease and stroke."

"Health care providers should encourage patients, including older adults, to reduce their sitting time, take breaks in their sitting time and replace sitting with brief periods of standing or light physical activity."

Avocado, Lutein, Attention, Obesity

A March 2020 study by University of Illinois of eating an avocado each day found

• "Previous work has shown that individuals with overweight and obesity are at higher risk for cognitive decline and dementia in older age … We are interested in whether dietary approaches may have benefits for cognitive health, especially in midlife."

• "It could be that nutrients in avocados have a specific action in the brain that supports the ability to do this task in particular, or they could be more beneficial for certain cognitive abilities over others."

• "It's also possible that with a longer study or different tests, we could see other effects. Other studies have found broader effects in other populations, so it is interesting to see a more specific benefit for this population."

• "Avocados also are high in fiber and monounsaturated fats. It is possible that these other nutrients may have played a role in the cognitive effects we saw, but we focused on the lutein in our analyses."

• "Future analyses may focus on other nutrients found in avocados, or avocado consumption's impact on other measures such as weight status, inflammation and potential changes in the microbiome."

• "Our mission is to give people options. There are multiple ways people can eat to optimize brain health."

• "What we're learning is that avocados may be one of those fruits that may be neuroprotective in certain ways. This work provides some evidence behind one option people have from a plethora of healthful foods that we can consume."

Visceral Fat, Obesity, Heart Disease and Diabetes

A January 2019 study by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute looked at visceral adipose tissue – visceral fat – (VAT).  

One theory, the "VAT prioritization hypothesis", suggests that a fetus that is undernourished makes the decision to store fat (energy) in visceral fat instead of in fat under the skin – subcutaneous fat.  Visceral fat (VAT) is designed to protect from infection. This prioritizing has a major impact on later life obesity, diabetes, blood pressure. VAT is, in part, stored in the omentum (we wrote about that recently).

An increase in visceral fat causes inflammation. This can lead to insulin resistance. A feed-back loop starts: even more visceral fat is stored.

The researchers said,

• “Trying to understand diseases related to obesity without understanding the abdominal structures [the omentum] that become obese is like trying to understand circulatory diseases without knowing the functions of the heart,"

• "The fact that visceral fat tissue evolved to fight visceral infections provides a causal hypothesis for how high fructose sweeteners and saturated fats contribute to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes,"

• "They influence which bacteria grow inside the intestines [called the microbiome], making the intestinal walls more permeable and releasing more toxins into the bloodstream, stimulating the visceral immune system and potentially leading to chronic inflammatory disease."

• "I think the combination of malnutrition early in life coupled with modern diets of saturated and trans-fats and high-fructose foods available on a global scale is leading to a situation that is toxic for individuals in many different cultures."

• "People's body shape--apple versus pear--is based on the way their bodies allocate fat. Even in ancient societies, poor nutrition leading to investment in VAT contributed to apple-shaped bodies, versus more 'beautiful,' voluptuous, pear-shaped bodies associated with SAT fat storage by better-nourished babies. Social upheaval (war, conquest and disease) would have favored flexibility in fat allocation because social rank and food availability would occasionally have changed."

Intermittent Fasting for Metabolic Syndrome

A November 2017 study by the University of California, San Diego found that,

“There is a critical window for intervention with metabolic syndrome. Once people become diabetic or are on multiple medications, such as insulin, it's very hard to reverse the disease process.

"Metabolism is closely linked with circadian rhythms, and knowing this, we were able to develop an intervention to help patients with metabolic syndrome without decreasing calories or increasing physical exercise."

"Time-restricted eating is a simple dietary intervention to incorporate, and we found that participants were able to keep the eating schedule,"

"Eating and drinking everything (except water) during a 10-hour window allows your body to rest and restore for 14 hours at night. Your body can also anticipate when you will eat, so it can prepare the body to optimize metabolism."

"Knowing how to optimize circadian rhythms could lead to a new treatment option for metabolic syndrome patients with life-altering diseases."

Coffee and Metabolic Syndrome

The medical term “metabolic syndrome” describes the combination of

• Diabetes,

• High Blood Pressure, and

• Obesity.

 Obesity is defined as having a BMI in the range 30-39.9.

Assistant Professor Giuseppe Grosso of the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) in a November 2019 study and Associate Professor Estefania Toledo reviewing the evidence in the SUN (Seguimiento University of Navarra) cohort study (n=22,000), found, “moderate coffee consumption [defined as drinking one to four cups daily] was associated with reduced risk of [metabolic syndrome] whilst higher intakes were not. This was reported for both regular and decaffeinated coffee.”