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The immune system reacts similarly to a high fat and high calorie diet as to a bacterial infection, a new study shows.
Unhealthy food seems to make the body's defenses more aggressive in the long term. Even long after switching to a healthy diet, inflammation toward innate immune stimulation is more pronounced. These long-term changes may be involved in the development of arteriosclerosis and diabetes, diseases linked to Western diet consumption.
The scientists placed mice for a month on a so-called "Western diet": high in fat, high in sugar, and low in fiber. The animals consequently developed a strong inflammatory response throughout the body, almost like after infection with dangerous bacteria.
Fast food thus causes the body to quickly recruit a huge and powerful army. When the researchers offered the rodents their typical cereal...