Just 2 days of eating high-fat food can damage your gut, study shows

You may miss the signs

Diets high in saturated fats have been linked to heart disease and strokes, but now Australian researchers believe they’ve found a link between these foods and chronic inflammation.

We know some foods aren’t great for our guts, but some are definitely worse than others.

A new study from Melbourne's WEHI (formerly the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) has found that high-fat foods could damage our guts without us even realising.

Experts already encourage us not to follow diets high in saturated fats, with the Heart Foundation noting that ‘eating too much saturated fat can raise the level of LDL(bad) cholesterol in your blood’, and ‘a high level of LDL cholesterol in your blood increases your risk of heart disease and stroke.’ 

WEHI’s pre-clinical study has highlighted that just a few meals high in saturated fats could cause chronic inflammation.

The research team believes symptoms may not appear for years.

Mice were fed high-fat meals as a part of the study, and despite having no signs of weight gain or other obvious symptoms of inflammation, the researchers found ‘microscopic changes’ to their gut health and function.

We’ve shown that every meal we consume actively shapes our gut health.

The paper’s senior author, Dr Cyril Seillet said “we’ve shown that every meal we consume actively shapes our gut health”.

“The more saturated fats we eat, the more inflammation that builds up – gradually weakening our gut defences and increasing our susceptibility to chronic inflammation.”

He added that although we may experience some discomfort after eating foods high in  saturated fats, we may not be immediately aware of the level of inflammation they can cause, saying “this inflammation build-up is initially silent, remaining hidden in our bodies until years later, where it can present as chronic inflammation.”

Just eating high-fat foods for a short period can decrease the body’s production of the protein.

IL-22 is an important protein for fighting inflammation, improving mucous production and promoting wound healing. 

WEHI Laboratory Head Professor Stephen Nutt found that just eating high-fat foods for a short period can decrease the body’s production of the protein.

The paper’s first author, Le Xiong explained that these findings are concerning, highlighting that diets high in saturated fats could both trigger inflammation and hinder the body from being able to fight it.

If you add avocado to everything, good news! You could be protecting your gut from inflammation. Image: Getty

“It took only two days of consuming high-fat foods for the mice to lose their IL-22 stores and have an impaired gut function” he said. “Despite their gut protection capabilities being stripped away, the mice still looked healthy – highlighting how gut health can be compromised long before any visible symptoms appear.”

But if you add avocado to everything, good news! You could be protecting your gut from inflammation. 

Avocados, nuts, seeds, olives and oily fish are high in unsaturated fats and are already endorsed by the Heart Foundation for their role in boosting our heart health.

After introducing unsaturated fats into the mice’s diets, the team saw the rodents’ IL-22 levels grow, signalling that by consuming these foods, people may be able to boost their production of the important protein naturally to potentially improve their gut health.  Image: iStock

After introducing unsaturated fats into the mice’s diets, the team saw the rodents’ IL-22 levels grow, signalling that by consuming these foods, people may be able to boost their production of the important protein naturally to potentially improve their gut health. 

More research is needed, but Seillet said, “while occasional high-fat meals won’t impair your gut protection barrier, a consistent diet that is high in saturated fats is laying the foundation for chronic gut inflammation to present in future.”

Originally published as Just 2 days of eating high-fat food can damage your gut, study shows