Western Diet
Researchers found that changing over to a Western-style diet for just two weeks can lead to both harmful inflammation and reduced effectiveness of the immune system in those who usually have an African diet. In this paper from Nature Medicine, experts reveal that eating many ultra-processed and refined carbs can directly result in chronic inflammation and is a big cause of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic issues.
A Western Diet is Believed to Cause Both Inflammation and Lifestyle Diseases
Radboud University Medical Center and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College researchers undertook a controlled trial in Northern Tanzania to look at cellular immune responses to changes in diet.
Important discoveries from the study are:
- Adding lots of processed foods to a Western diet raised inflammation and reduced the immune response.
- The less capable immune cells were to fight pathogens, the likelier people were to get sick.
- Altering how metabolic pathways work raised the risk of later disease.
- Switching to a plant-rich African diet with lots of whole foods greatly lowered inflammation and improved the participant’s immune system. They suggest that what we eat can have a big effect on our immune system and reduce our chances of developing chronic diseases.
The reason traditional diets help the gut and immune system.
For this study, a traditional Kilimanjaro diet included the following after weighing foods:
- Green leafy vegetables brings a lot of value and is healthy.
- Legumes
- Plant foods such as sweet potato and cassava
- Ancient grains that are usually millet and sorghum
- Black tea and a banana drink that has been fermented, called Mbege
- These foods supply fiber, polyphenols and antioxidants, all of which naturally help the body fight against oxidative stress, keep your digestive system diverse and improve your immune health.
Traditional diets, says Dr. Thomas M. Holland from RUSH University, support the gut by giving it important bacteria and other compounds that help the immune system. The anti-inflammatory properties of Mbege are probably due to its high levels of flavonoids and prebiotics.
Why Does the Western Diet Inflame the Body?
Participants in the study followed a Western diet including the following:
- Pizza
- Fried chicken
- French fries
- Processed meats
- I like pancakes and white bread.
Fast food contains lots of saturated fat, added sugar and preservatives which can upset the balance of your gut bacteria and make the body become inflamed. The findings suggest that participants who followed this diet had faster immune weakness, greater inflammation and issues with their metabolism which raises their risk for disease related to lifestyle.
Sooner changes bring later, lasting benefits.
What stands out the most is that these big health alterations came about over only 14 days. Even four weeks of eating a traditional diet failed to fix all the inflammatory problems caused by the Western diet at the beginning. The study also shows that even modest changes to diet, involving fermented products or eating whole plant foods, can reduce inflammation and help maintain immune strength for the future.
Collecting and using expert knowledge has important public health effects.
According to Dr. de Mast, who wrote the study, we must go back to eating the foods our ancestors ate as we see more processed food on people’s plates.
The traditional ways of eating in Africa can teach us the same important things as the Mediterranean and Japanese diets, de Mast said. Following these diets helps keep your body from inflammation and reduce the rise of long-term diseases.
According to Dr. Holland, handling food traditionally while adjusting it for today’s world is a great way to boost public health, particularly given how inflammation is now linked to most serious illnesses.
In the End: Eat Foods That Help Control Inflammation
The results here show that a healthy diet can greatly reduce the chance of disease. Using whole foods, eating fiber and choosing fermented products helps your gut, strengthens your resistance to disease and might help stop chronic diseases.
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