Findings indicate that just 2 weeks of adopting Western diet can lead to increased inflammation
New Study Links Western Diet to Increased Risk of Inflammatory Diseases. Heart disease and type 2 diabetes are two lifestyle-related disorders that are significantly affected by chronic inflammation.
A contemporary Western diet that is heavy in processed foods and lacking in whole plant-based foods can significantly increase this chronic inflammation, according to new research, Medical News Today reports.
To explore the effects of this dietary change, researchers from Radboud University Medical Center and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College investigated the health effects at the cellular level.
Their results showed that just 2 weeks of adopting a Western diet compared to a traditional African diet can lead to increased inflammation, weakened immune responses, and disruption of metabolic pathways linked to lifestyle-related diseases.
Conversely, switching from a Western diet to a traditional African diet or consuming traditional fermented beverages may have anti-inflammatory benefits.
These findings lend credence to the notion that traditional diets, such as traditional African, Mediterranean, and Latin American diets, which are primarily plant-based, can enhance health and reduce the risk of certain lifestyle-related diseases, although more research is needed.
According to their findings, a two-week transition from a traditional African diet to a Western diet disrupted key metabolic pathways that are linked to diseases associated with lifestyle choices.
Furthermore, it appeared to initiate a pro-inflammatory state that included changes in gene expression, inflammatory substances in the blood, and white blood cells.
Their immune cells also lost their ability to fight infection.
On the other hand, drinking fermented beverages or switching from a Western diet to a traditional African diet that is primarily plant-based had primarily anti-inflammatory effects, such as a reduction in markers of inflammation.
