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Home > Revolution Health Radio > RHR: Are High-Fat Diets Bad for the Microbiome?
Podcast: Revolution Health Radio
Episode:

RHR: Are High-Fat Diets Bad for the Microbiome?
Category: Health
Duration: 00:20:35
Publish Date: 2017-08-17 19:28:46
Description:

revolution health radio

In this episode we discuss:
  • Questions to ask about these findings
  • High fiber and its impact on high-fat diets
  • Low-carb, low-fiber diets can be detrimental
  • Each person responds to high-fat diets differently
[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/thehealthyskeptic/RHR_Are_High-fat_Diets_Bad_for_the_Microbiome.mp3" title="RHR: Are High-Fat Diets Bad for the Microbiome?" artist="Chris Kresser" ] Chris Kresser: Hey, everybody, Chris Kresser here. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. This week we have a question from Carrie. Let's give it a listen. Carrie: Hi, Chris. Carrie Bennett from Carrie B Wellness. I have a question when it comes to a high-fat diet and the health of the gut microbiome when I'm coaching my nutrition clients. After reading the Sonnenburgs’ book about gut health and the gut microbiome, it seems to be that their recommendation is that fat can change the gut microbiota in a negative way. I'm just wondering how you view this in light of a Paleolithic, primal-style diet. I'm wondering if the studies that they're referencing are utilizing poor fat sources as opposed to high-quality pastured or grass-fed animal fats, and just your take on, is high-fat healthy for the gut microbiota? Thanks. Chris: Thanks so much for sending your question in, Carrie. This is a really good example of the complexity of modern research and where it often goes awry. Some studies do show an adverse effect of a high-fat diet on a microbiome, but there are many important questions that we have to ask about these findings.

Questions to ask about these findings

  1. The first question is whether these studies are in mice or in humans. They're often in mice, rats, or other animals, and it's just not clear how applicable those findings are to humans. Certainly some animals share common physiological mechanisms with humans, and we've learned a lot from animal research, but there are some important differences as well, and the microbiome and the gastrointestinal system is definitely one of those.
  2. Second, what is the quality of fats that's being used in the study? Carrie alluded to this in the question. The assumption in much of the research out there is that fat is fat, so it doesn't really matter what kind of fat you use. They often will use corn oil or soybean oil in these studies, particularly with the animal studies, and I don't think that that's actually a safe assumption that all fat affects us in the same way. We know there are already some studies that suggest that industrialized seed oils like soybean oil and corn oil have di...
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