Scientists warn of fatty diet risks

Delicious but foods like cake carry risks

A DIET rich in fatty foods increases the risk of developing heart disease and cancer, research has shown.

 

The findings reinforce warnings about eating too much food laden with saturated fat, such as cakes, biscuits, fatty meat and dairy products.

British scientists have found that high levels of saturated fat in the blood may promote damaging inflammation, potentially raising the danger of the two major killers.

Using mice, scientists discovered that high levels of the fat kick-started a process that involves white blood cells called monocytes migrating from the blood into tissues and organs.

They believe the migrating cells may exacerbate ongoing or underlying inflammation – a destructive immune response that has got out of hand and is closely linked to heart disease.

Constantly snacking on cakes, biscuits, and pastries, could be causing monocytes to migrate

Dr Kevin Woollard, from Imperial College London

Recent evidence indicates that it also plays a key role in the growth and spread of cancer.

Dr Kevin Woollard, from Imperial College London, who led the Wellcome Trust-funded research published in the journal Cell Reports, said: “We think that maintaining a relatively high concentration of saturated fats, for example by constantly snacking on cakes, biscuits, and pastries, could be causing monocytes to migrate.”

In the UK, more than half of men and women are categorised as either overweight or obese. And heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer.

However, a key discovery was that the monocytes were all one type.

“That means we actually may be able to develop drugs that change this behaviour,” Dr Woollard said.