Caesar: Let me have men about me that are fat ..
A truth known already in Shakespeare’s day and a new paper seems to confirm the adage – even if only for pigs.
Annika Maria Juul Haagensen et al, High Fat, Low Carbohydrate Diet Limit Fear and Aggression in Göttingen Minipigs, PLOS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093821
Nordic Science:Most of us associate the words ‘fat’ and ‘cholesterol’ with overweight, cardiovascular disease and unhealthy lifestyles but we could all be wrong, according to researchers who argue that not even the infamous saturated fats are as bad as we think they are.
A new Danish study reveals that a diet high in fat and cholesterol makes pigs more social, less aggressive and less fearful. According to the researchers behind the study, such behaviour is associated with good health. ……..
Even though the study was done on pigs the results would most likely be applicable to humans as well, says Annika Maria Juul Haagensen, PhD in Veterinary Disease Biology at the University of Copenhagen, who authored the study.
“It’s definitely something we should consider,” she says. “The next step is to determine how much fat is optimal for our physical and psychological health.”
Associate professor Lotte Lauritzen from the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen says that’s a reasonable assumption.
“Previous studies on monkeys and rodents support these findings,” she says. “We know that our brain cells need fat to make new connections and function optimally.”
For instance, she says, too little omega 3 fat affects the serotonin system which regulates our mood. ……..
“There are several possible explanations to the changes in behaviour we observed in the pigs that were fed more fat,” she says.
One could be that the fat and cholesterol cause an increased release of serotonin. The higher levels of serotonin could’ve changed how aggressive, depressive and anxious the pigs were.
“At the same time a study shows that cholesterol increases the permeability between brain cells and blood. This means that more nutrients are transferred from the blood to the cells,” says Haagensen.
Fat and sugar and cholestorol are not all bad and don’t quite deserve the demonisation they have been subject to.
Tags: cholestorol, Fat, Omega 3 fat, pigs
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