
A lot for weekends of caloric abandon.
Latest research confirms that just two days of eating a high-fat food plan can compromise critical immune cells within the gut and weaken the intestinal barrier, suggesting the impact of our every day dietary decisions is more immediate than previously believed.
Published this month within the journal Immunity, the research followed mice fed a daily food plan, a high-fat food plan and specialized diets enriched with saturated and unsaturated fats.
The high-fat food plan led to the rapid suppression of specialised immune cells called ILC3s, which produce a protective substance called interleukin-22 (IL-22). This suppression is disastrous for the digestive system.
Throughout the gut, IL-22 typically shields the intestinal barrier by generating protective elements that prevent bacteria, toxins, undigested food particles and inflammatory pathogens from breaching the bloodstream.
When a high-fat food plan limits the production of IL-22, that intestinal barrier becomes more permeable, a condition known, inelegantly, as “leaky gut.”
While not a proper diagnosis, leaky gut is understood to cause bloating, constipation, indigestion, acid reflux disorder and potentially intestinal pain.
What’s worse, when toxins leak beyond the gut, they trigger widespread inflammation, resulting in issues like skin problems, brain fog, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular stress and even fertility challenges.
“The more saturated fats we eat, the more inflammation that builds up,” said study creator Cyril Seillet from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. “This inflammation build-up is initially silent, remaining hidden in our bodies until years later, where it could present as chronic inflammation.”
Seillet and his team discovered that different fats have wildly different effects on overall gut health.
They found that unsaturated fatty acids, present in olive oil and avocados, helped support normal IL-22 production and gut barrier function.
In contrast, saturated fatty acids, present in palm oil, butter and fatty animal meat, deliver a one-two punch by seriously hindering immune cell function and increasing intestinal inflammation.
After just two days on high-fat diets, researchers observed that certain subtypes of ILC3 immune cells already exhibited reduced IL-22 production. Per week into the high-fat food plan, all ILC3 subtypes were compromised.
Further, inside per week on the high-fat food plan, the gut microbiome had rapidly shifted, exhibiting a decline in helpful bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids and a proliferation of harmful bacteria.
Using specialized equipment, the research team discerned that one week on a high-fat food plan correlated to “leakier” mice intestines, a permeability that allowed more potentially dangerous substances to go through.
There’s a little bit of silver (intestinal) lining to be present in this latest batch of research — the gut-compromising consequences of a high-fat food plan aren’t everlasting.
The research team found that after resuming a daily food plan, gut function improved after just two days and returned to normal after seven days. This quick correction suggests dietary interventions could rapidly restore gut health.
As well as, researchers found that saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are processed in entirely other ways.
Saturated fats are processed through a pathway called fatty acid oxidation, which impairs immune function, while unsaturated fats like oleic acid form protective lipid droplets within the cells, helping to keep up proper immune responses.
To exhibit how the processing of those fats influences intestinal inflammation, the research team induced colitis within the mice. The mice fed saturated fats showed greater tissue damage than those who ate unsaturated fats or adhered to a daily food plan.
Results were similar when the team exposed isolated human immune cells to different fatty acids. Essentially, unsaturated fats support immune function while saturated fats suppress IL-22 production.
Researchers consider these rapid and profound changes in gut health could explain why people experience digestive discomfort after they veer from their regular diets throughout the holidays or on vacation.
Conversely, these results serve to elucidate why diets wealthy in olive oil and unsaturated fats, reminiscent of the lauded Mediterranean food plan, are related to lower levels of inflammation and improved gut health.
How necessary is gut health? Research reports that Parkinson’s disease may begin within the gut.
A 2022 study from Latest York’s Clarkson University even found a possible link between an individual’s gut health and personality.

A lot for weekends of caloric abandon.
Latest research confirms that just two days of eating a high-fat food plan can compromise critical immune cells within the gut and weaken the intestinal barrier, suggesting the impact of our every day dietary decisions is more immediate than previously believed.
Published this month within the journal Immunity, the research followed mice fed a daily food plan, a high-fat food plan and specialized diets enriched with saturated and unsaturated fats.
The high-fat food plan led to the rapid suppression of specialised immune cells called ILC3s, which produce a protective substance called interleukin-22 (IL-22). This suppression is disastrous for the digestive system.
Throughout the gut, IL-22 typically shields the intestinal barrier by generating protective elements that prevent bacteria, toxins, undigested food particles and inflammatory pathogens from breaching the bloodstream.
When a high-fat food plan limits the production of IL-22, that intestinal barrier becomes more permeable, a condition known, inelegantly, as “leaky gut.”
While not a proper diagnosis, leaky gut is understood to cause bloating, constipation, indigestion, acid reflux disorder and potentially intestinal pain.
What’s worse, when toxins leak beyond the gut, they trigger widespread inflammation, resulting in issues like skin problems, brain fog, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular stress and even fertility challenges.
“The more saturated fats we eat, the more inflammation that builds up,” said study creator Cyril Seillet from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. “This inflammation build-up is initially silent, remaining hidden in our bodies until years later, where it could present as chronic inflammation.”
Seillet and his team discovered that different fats have wildly different effects on overall gut health.
They found that unsaturated fatty acids, present in olive oil and avocados, helped support normal IL-22 production and gut barrier function.
In contrast, saturated fatty acids, present in palm oil, butter and fatty animal meat, deliver a one-two punch by seriously hindering immune cell function and increasing intestinal inflammation.
After just two days on high-fat diets, researchers observed that certain subtypes of ILC3 immune cells already exhibited reduced IL-22 production. Per week into the high-fat food plan, all ILC3 subtypes were compromised.
Further, inside per week on the high-fat food plan, the gut microbiome had rapidly shifted, exhibiting a decline in helpful bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids and a proliferation of harmful bacteria.
Using specialized equipment, the research team discerned that one week on a high-fat food plan correlated to “leakier” mice intestines, a permeability that allowed more potentially dangerous substances to go through.
There’s a little bit of silver (intestinal) lining to be present in this latest batch of research — the gut-compromising consequences of a high-fat food plan aren’t everlasting.
The research team found that after resuming a daily food plan, gut function improved after just two days and returned to normal after seven days. This quick correction suggests dietary interventions could rapidly restore gut health.
As well as, researchers found that saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are processed in entirely other ways.
Saturated fats are processed through a pathway called fatty acid oxidation, which impairs immune function, while unsaturated fats like oleic acid form protective lipid droplets within the cells, helping to keep up proper immune responses.
To exhibit how the processing of those fats influences intestinal inflammation, the research team induced colitis within the mice. The mice fed saturated fats showed greater tissue damage than those who ate unsaturated fats or adhered to a daily food plan.
Results were similar when the team exposed isolated human immune cells to different fatty acids. Essentially, unsaturated fats support immune function while saturated fats suppress IL-22 production.
Researchers consider these rapid and profound changes in gut health could explain why people experience digestive discomfort after they veer from their regular diets throughout the holidays or on vacation.
Conversely, these results serve to elucidate why diets wealthy in olive oil and unsaturated fats, reminiscent of the lauded Mediterranean food plan, are related to lower levels of inflammation and improved gut health.
How necessary is gut health? Research reports that Parkinson’s disease may begin within the gut.
A 2022 study from Latest York’s Clarkson University even found a possible link between an individual’s gut health and personality.







