A recent study was done with mice to test the effects of
different diets on different strains of mice.
Four mice strains were tested to model genetic diversity and each strain
shared the same genetics. This represents
the genes of one person. Any two strains
of mice had differences, which relates to humans as people do not have the same
exact genes. The mice were put on
different diets but allowed to consume as much as they wanted of their food
source. Their consumption was recorded
and observations about health effects were recorded for each mice strain. Scientists were able to find that different
mice strains had different responses to the same diets. Some saw more negative health effects such as
obesity, fatty liver disease and detrimental effects on cholesterol. Other mice strains had higher resistance to
the same diets and saw little to no effects at all. Some diets were healthier for some mice than
others. I found this interesting because
it really depends on your genetics on what type of health effects you would
encounter. Health is not entirely
reliant on what you eat, but genetics can play a strong role. This is a good study as mice are good organisms to use to study humans indirectly. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
did a similar study on how different dietary fats can be modeled through mice
and other model organisms.
