Does Dietary Fat Hurt Our Brains?

A high-fat diet can cause brain injury, according to a recent study by University of Washington researchers.  Rodents were fed a diet similar in fat content to the typical American diet for up to eight months, and their brains underwent biochemical, imaging and cell sorting analysis.  In addition to weight gain, the researchers detected inflammation of the hypothalamus along with damage to (and eventual loss of) neurons that regulate weight—results not found in the control group that was fed regular rat food.

The study’s presenting author, Dr. Joshua Thaler, concluded that the research provides a potential target for obesity treatment.  “If new medicines can be designed that limit neuron injury during overeating,” he said, “they may be effective in combating the obesity epidemic.”

“What were these people thinking about?  This is a skewed study!  Were the results due to the percentage of fat in the diet, doubling their caloric intake or an unnatural combination of macronutrients?” ask boomer generation health experts Dian Griesel, Ph.D., and Tom Griesel, authors of the new book TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (April 2011, BSH).  TurboCharged® is a groundbreaking 8-Step program that defies common weight-loss theories. It successfully delivers body-defining rapid fat loss, accelerates metabolism, and improves health and odds of longevity without gimmicks, supplements or special equipment.

“Doubling the calories in a standard rodent diet with the addition of fat seems to be a probable cause all by itself,” says Tom Griesel.  “The Standard American Diet (SAD) is a totally unnatural way of eating.  Traditional Masai in Kenya and Tanzania have no problem eating a natural, non-processed high-fat diet, consisting of fermented cow’s milk, meat and blood and maintaining a low body-fat percentage, low cholesterol and no heart disease, not to mention incredible endurance.”

“People who consume the SAD are damaging their health just like people who choose to continue smoking,” adds Dian Griesel.  “The consumption of processed and refined foods is the cause of the obesity epidemic.  Anyone who believes it can or needs to be fixed with a new miracle pill or drug needs to wake up.”

For more information, log on to http://www.turbocharged.us.com.