Insulin resistance, a significant risk factor for diabetes, develops when the body’s cells do not react to insulin and are unable to use the glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream. The condition has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, which is an accumulation of fats within blood arteries that can restrict blood flow to the body’s tissues. However, the precise mechanism through which insulin and the cells lining vascular walls interact is unclear.
Joslin Diabetes Center scientists describe a series of studies designed to investigate the link between insulin, fats, and the vascular system in a paper published in Circulation Research. The group, led by Dr. George King, chief scientific officer and director of research at Joslin, discovered a brand-new method by which the body’s metabolism is controlled by endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. The results challenge scientific dogma by suggesting that, contrary to what was previously believed, vascular dysfunction may really be the root cause of the undesirable metabolic changes that can result in diabetes.
“In people with diabetes and insulin resistance, the idea has always been that white fat and inflammation causes dysfunction in the blood vessels, leading to the prevalence of heart disease, eye disease, and kidney disease in this patient population,” said King, the Thomas J. Beatson, Jr. Professor of Medicine in the Field of Diabetes at Harvard Medical School. “But we found that blood vessels can have a major controlling effect here, and that was not known before.”
[...] “Everything is connected,” said King. “We think blood vessels and endothelial cells play an important role not just in regulating brown fat, but also in regulating whole body’s metabolism. Thus, these endothelial cells are a key factor in regulating weight and developing diabetes and, as other labs have shown, blood vessels appear to be a major regulator of brain function as well. Intervening at the level of endothelial cells could have a major impact on many diseases.”
Journal Reference:
Kyoungmin Park, Qian Li, Matthew D. Lynes, Hisashi Yokomizo, et al., Endothelial Cells Induced Progenitors Into Brown Fat to Reduce Atherosclerosis, Circ Res, 131, 2022. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319582
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 20 2022, @04:24AM (12 children)
I look forward to a range of Harvard branded food supplements and HealthFul Wellness(tm) products that will favorably color my urine.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by EJ on Thursday October 20 2022, @05:47AM
Healthy urine should really be clear.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RamiK on Thursday October 20 2022, @10:33AM (7 children)
Harvard has a pretty good record when it comes to diet research and general public recommendations. They even ended up putting together their own web site for diet reviews and the like [harvard.edu] to breaks down fad diets and relevant papers in order to make unbiased non-proprietary recommendations specially due to the years of news publishers ignoring scientific and health organizations findings and recommendations in favor of quackery and selective paper quotations.
e.g. The "coconut oil is pure poison" incident was almost universally covered with spin tactics trying to down play how just one tablespoon of coconut oil is a gram short of exceeding the daily recommended dose of saturated fats per the American Heart Association (13 g for a 2 kcal diet vs. coconut oil having 12 g of saturated fats in a single 15ml/13.6g tablespoon) so there's basically no way to include it in a daily menu.
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(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Thursday October 20 2022, @04:31PM (6 children)
The point is that the evidence is mounting that AHA recommendations, food pyramids and other government recommendations and received wisdom are very wrong. People like Prof. Tim Noakes have been banging the drum on this (https://thenoakesfoundation.org/news/its-the-insulin-resistance-stupid-part-1) and have come across as conspiracy theorists. But their views are getting mainstream recognition. It's time to step back and re-look the foundations of nutrition science.
I find the evidence every interesting and compelling, but am not expert enough to make a judgement. I try to keep an open mind on the subject. But it seems the vested interests do not share my attitude.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday October 20 2022, @06:20PM
The AHA's recommendations on unsaturated fats are in line with 60 years of research and are often in direct conflict with the food pyramid and other government recommendations.
The Noakes Foundation advocacy work and cited research is in the context of low-carbs diets like Atkins, Paleo and Ketogenic. The problem with research dealing with those diets is that people typically only do them for limited periods and more often than not on a caloric deficit. Worse, there very little long term studies on those diets compared to the thousands of papers on normal diets. Either way, when it comes to the normal maintenance high-carbs diets, the evidence against saturated fats are conclusive: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2016/12/19/saturated-fat-regardless-of-type-found-linked-with-increased-heart-disease-risk/ [harvard.edu]
Btw, while the evidence is lacking, I also cut on high-protein, high-fat diets, easily going over the saturated fats recommendation by 5-10 times over and it shows as my blood cholesterol levels make record breaking highs. However, I do this knowing everything going in is getting burned and then some. And, when maintaining on normal diets, even if I'm only slightly above the recommended levels my (bad) cholesterol will refuse to nudge into the normal levels.
TL;DR those are the exceptions that proves the rule.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 20 2022, @08:59PM (2 children)
Is Noakes behind the late night "insulin resistance" dietary supplement commercials I see on TV? Whether he is on to something or not, that would still knock him down to the Dr. Oz level of respect, in my opinion.
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Friday October 21 2022, @02:36AM (1 child)
I don't know the answer to your question, but I doubt it. I did write "conspiracy theory", though!
Dr. Oz is a doofus. But that does not necessarily make him wrong in this particular case. Like I also said, I try to keep and open mind.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 21 2022, @07:56AM
JUST EAT THE DAMN COOKIE, CHRIST!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @01:54PM
The USDA food pyramid was by the US Department of AGRICULTURE. Guess whose health it prioritizes?
If you're following dietary advice from a Department of Agriculture don't be surprised if it's not that good for your health.
The Harvard nutrition advice is more based on known scientific research than the USDA's stuff.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday October 22 2022, @05:44PM
I don't know what they look like, but I sure know who paid for it.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday October 20 2022, @06:41PM (2 children)
The leading cause of green urine is Cloret abuse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 20 2022, @08:59PM (1 child)
And too much green beer on St. Paddy's Day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 21 2022, @08:01AM
There's a saying - never drink the green beer. It's urine. Diabetic oestrogen-laden, asparagetic urine. From your mom.