This episode educates on the complex science of dietary lipids (fats) and inflammation and provides actionable advice for managing your health through dietary choices.
Note: Full episodes are available to paid subscribers on the M&M Substack and are free on YouTube. Partial versions are available elsewhere.
About the guest: Tim Yeatman, MD is a surgical oncologist and professor of surgery at the University of South Florida, also serving as an Associate Center Director for Translational Research and Clinical Innovation at the Tampa General Cancer Institute. Ganesh Halade, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, focusing on cardiovascular diseases with research centered on inflammation and resolution signaling.
Episode summary: Explores the link between dietary lipids, particularly omega-6 fatty acids from seed oils, chronic inflammation, and cancer. It starts with a historical perspective on cancer as an inflammatory disease, referencing the work of Rudolf Virchow, and delves into how modern diets have shifted to include an imbalance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, leading to chronic inflammation. Includes insights from a recent study by Yeatman and Halade on lipid dysregulation in colon cancer, explaining how this imbalance can contribute to the development of cancer and other diseases. The conversation also touches on lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, and sleep, and how they interact with lipid metabolism to affect health outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
Chronic Inflammation and Cancer: Historically, inflammation has been linked to cancer since the work of Virchow, with chronic inflammation potentially leading to cancer by altering immune surveillance, allowing mutated cells to survive.
Dietary Lipids: The modern Western diet is high in omega-6 fatty acids relative to omega-3, which leads to an imbalance that favors pro-inflammatory lipid mediators over resolving ones. This imbalance can contribute to chronic inflammation.
Seed Oils and Health: Seed oils, rich in omega-6s, are criticized for contributing to this imbalance. The study suggests that reducing seed oil consumption might lower the risk of chronic inflammation and associated diseases like cancer.
Lifestyle Factors: Beyond diet, lifestyle choices such as exercise and sleep quality influence how the body processes lipids, affecting inflammation levels and overall health.
Lipid Mediators: There's a detailed explanation of how dietary fats get converted into lipid mediators that either promote or resolve inflammation, with omega-6s typically leading to pro-inflammatory outcomes.
Microbiome Interaction: The gut microbiome can be influenced by dietary choices, including the type of fats consumed, potentially impacting health through altered microbial diversity and function.
Preventative Health: The conversation pivots to a call for focusing on disease prevention through diet and lifestyle rather than solely on treatment, highlighting the economic and health benefits of such an approach.
Practical Advice: Tips include reading food labels to avoid excessive seed oils, considering home cooking, and possibly gardening to control food intake quality. Apps like "Bobby Approved" are mentioned for easier label scanning.
Related episodes:
M&M #134: Omega-6-9 Fats, Vegetable & Seed Oils, Sugar, Processed Food, Metabolic Health & Dietary Origins of Chronic Inflammatory Disease | Artemis Simopoulos
M&M #136: Seed Oils, Omega-6 PUFAs, Inflammation, Obesity, Diabetes, Chronic Disease & Metabolic Dysfunction | Chris Knobbe
*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice
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Full video version: [YouTube]
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Episode transcript below.
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