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How Fast Food May Spark Off Type 2
Scientists may have located a specific reason why high-fat diets that include junk food increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
A team at the University of California in San Diego discovered that eating a lot of saturated fat found in fast food like cheeseburgers and fries blocks production of an enzyme crucial for making insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. Type 2 Diabetes may ensue if levels of blood sugar, or glucose, become elevated.
Researchers found insulin production can be disrupted by knocking out a single gene which controls a key enzyme called GnT-4a. They then showed that a high-fat diet suppresses activity of the same gene.
The study was carried out on mice but the researchers hope their findings, published in the journal Cell, will lead to new ways to treat and prevent Type 2 Diabetes in humans (1).
Insufficient levels of the enzyme were found to compromise the ability of beta cells in the pancreas to produce insulin in response to rising levels of glucose in the blood after, for example, a meal.
The researchers suggest people with an inherited predisposition to Type 2 Diabetes might have variations in the GnT-4a gene. Their study showed that, when a beta cell lacks sufficient levels of GnT-4a, it is unable to absorb glucose across its outer membrane in the usual way.
Thus it becomes insensitive to rising levels of blood glucose and fails to secrete insulin in response.
Researcher Dr Jamey Marth said: "If you could somehow stimulate production of this enzyme, you might be able to render animals, and perhaps humans, resistant to high-fat, diet-induced Diabetes.
"If our findings can be applied to humans, they should give us important insights into how Type 2 Diabetes may be prevented and treated."
Unlike the saturated variety, unsaturated fats in modest amounts are actually good for you. Monounsaturated fat in food like olive oil, avocados and sesame and pumpkin seeds can help reduce blood cholesterol. Polyunsaturated fat, especially omega 3 fat found in flax seeds, flax oil, walnuts and cold water fish like salmon, is also a healthier alternative to saturated fat.
Before they develop Type 2 Diabetes, most people experience a disorder called Pre-Diabetes, which is closely linked with the insulin and glucose imbalance called Insulin Resistance. Both latter conditions can be reversed by losing weight via lifestyle changes like adopting a balanced, nutritious diet and regular exercise. But if neglected, Pre-Diabetes may become Type 2 Diabetes, which can only be managed for the rest of a person's life and often requires daily injections of insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes severely increases the chance of developing blindness, amputation and kidney disease as well as a heart attack or stroke.
Insulin Resistance can also lead to the cluster of increased risks for cardiovascular disease called Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X) as well as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of female infertility in addition to skin conditions like acne and brown patches, excess facial and body hair and male pattern baldness in women.
(1) Dietary and Genetic Control of Glucose Transporter 2 Glycosylation Promotes Insulin Secretion in Suppressing Diabetes, Cell 2005 123: 1307-1321., cell.com
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