In a new report that was published in the November 2014
issue of Journal of Leukocyte Biology,
a study done on mice has shown that the effects of poor eating habits can last
for a long time, long after those eating habits were improved. This is due to
the poor eating habits altering the way that genes express themselves, which
can lead the immune system functioning poorly.
In the study, the scientists used mice that had an altered
gene, making them more likely to develop high blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis. They fed these mice a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet. The
bone marrow of these mice were transplanted into genetically similar mice, who
had their own bone marrow eliminated. Then, these mice with the transplanted
bone marrow were fed a more nutritional diet of chow for many months. The
control group of mice had bone marrow transplanted into them from chow-fed mice,
and were fed chow for many months. The two groups were measured for the
development of atherosclerosis in the heart, and the number/condition of their
immune cells. The mice with the bone marrow from the “unhealthy” mice were
found to have large differences in their immune system and more likely to have
atherosclerosis than those mice with the “healthy” mice bone marrow.
This study can have implications for the treatment of
diseases with immune underpinnings in humans, and new treatments that can
modify gene expression.
This article shows moreso how our diets affect us in more
ways than just weight. I wish the article would have gone more in-depth into
the diets given to the mice, because nutrition is more complicated than just “high-fat,
high-cholesterol”, knowing that there are good and bad fats/cholesterol. Either
way, it never occurred to me that our diets could have such a long term effect
on the expression of our genes and gives even more importance to striving to
eat healthy.
Link to article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/284896.php
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