Posted Dec 17, 2009
A study in mice found a diet of fatty foods can weaken the immune system, researchers in Sweden said.
Mice fed a lard-based diet over a long period got worse at fighting bacteria in the blood, a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden, found.
Doctoral student Louise Strandberg said the mice fed the lard-based diet derived 60 percent of their total calories from fat. They were compared with mice fed a low-fat diet — no more than 10 percent of their calories came from fat.
The mice on the high-fat diet got fatter, but the more surprising result was that their immune systems was less active — the white blood cells got worse at dealing with bacteria in the blood, which could have contributed to many dying of sepsis, Strandberg said.
“Obesity is usually associated with inflammation that does not result from an infection, which simply means that the immune defenses are activated unnecessarily,” Strandberg said in a statement. “Ironically, the mice on the high-fat diet seem to have a less active immune system when they really need it.”
Date: Dec 10, 2009 URL: www.upi.com