Study: High-Fat Diet May Make You Stupid & Lazy

sunkisses

I was going through some old favorites and found this in there, so it's not "new" anymore.

Read at least half the article before you comment, please.



By now, we've all heard that high-fat diets are bad for our health in the long run. But what about the short-term?

A new study on rats finds that 10 days of eating a high-fat diet caused short-term memory loss and made exercise difficult. While the finding may not seem a big surprise, the researcher say it might suggest that high-fat diets make humans lazy and stupid.

"Western diets are typically high in fat and are associated with long-term complications, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart failure, yet the short-term consequences of such diets have been given relatively little attention," said Andrew Murray, co-author of the study and currently at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. "We hope that the findings of our study will help people to think seriously about reducing the fat content of their daily food intake to the immediate benefit of their general health, well-being, and alertness."

The other half can be found here:
http://www.livescience.com/5635-high-fat-diet-stupid-lazy.html

PB67

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

oswaldbowser

I think it depends on what fats you or they are talking about !

sunkisses

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

Thank you for your contribution.

Drunkadelic

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

ditto

sunkisses

I think it depends on what fats you or they are talking about !

I did not do a study. "They" are referring to a diet such as french fries, pizza, etc. as mentioned in the article.

sunkisses

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

ditto

And this would be why I requested that you read half before responding. Way to follow directions and derail a discussion! "Dur I stopped reading after the first sentence and now I'm going to inform you of that fact and that I don't want to discuss it."

joejccva71

"Western diets are typically high in fat and are associated with long-term complications, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart failure..."

Ummm no.

Excess calories and sitting on the couch and no exercise contribute to those complications.

And yes I read the whole thing.

And yes it's ridiculous.

JennW130

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

ditto

And this would be why I requested that you read half before responding. Way to follow directions and derail a discussion! "Dur I stopped reading after the first sentence and now I'm going to inform you of that fact and that I don't want to discuss it."

thats the risk you take by posting

sunkisses

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

ditto

And this would be why I requested that you read half before responding. Way to follow directions and derail a discussion! "Dur I stopped reading after the first sentence and now I'm going to inform you of that fact and that I don't want to discuss it."

thats the risk you take by posting

After a thousand+ posts I'm aware of the risks. Thanks for all of your amazingly insightful contribution to a discussion. I will remember not to ask the geniuses of MFP to read again.

deeharley

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

ditto

And this would be why I requested that you read half before responding. Way to follow directions and derail a discussion! "Dur I stopped reading after the first sentence and now I'm going to inform you of that fact and that I don't want to discuss it."

And this would be why people are constantly posting "If you don't want to hear people's opinions, don't post on a open forum." I read everything you posted here, and I agree with them. We are not rats.

Having said that, since there are also posts on here all the time about how sluggish people feel after just a day or two of high fat, high calorie diets, I wouldn't totally diregard this information in my own life.

Tiggerrick

the researcher say it might suggest that high-fat diets make humans lazy and stupid.

And you are surprised some people will stop at 'rat'? Oh wait, I am sure you are not surprised.

AmyPearshape

We are not rats, but we are mammals. I think it was an interesting article. Thanks for sharing it.

tracikearns

people kill me!

I only read the half that you posted, but it is not surprising that a high fat diet can do that!

sunkisses

NoDairy

Rats or no rats, basically junk food is bad for any species, animal products also no good, , Truly low fat are natural grown fruits and veggies, and thats what we need to eat to survive and live without medical and drug needs. But i know u know that.

jamk1446

I didn't see the link to the actual study but I follow a blog written by a psychiatrist who examined either this study or a similar one. They use standard rat chow- not a natural diet for rats whether high fat or low fat. What effect does that have on mental and physical performance? That's one variable, second, different fats do different things in the body. Which fat did they use? Would a different fat have a similar or different effect? That's the problem with some of these studies (aside from the fact that they are rat studies)- there's really more variables involved than they claim to be controlling against.

PB67

Why should anyone read beyond the word rat?

The rest of the article was simply stating the conclusions they drew. But rat studies are not directly applicable to humans, so why would it make sense to consider anything the article said once you learn that it was a rat study?

sunkisses

the researcher say it might suggest that high-fat diets make humans lazy and stupid.

And you are surprised some people will stop at 'rat'? Oh wait, I am sure you are not surprised.

Not at all. LOL I'm surprised they're willing to fckin admit it in writing.

sunkisses

Why should anyone read beyond the word rat?

Uhhh... because in order to have a discussion about the article - you should read it. But you're not interested in having a discussion about the article. You're interested in derailing a discussion you have nothing to contribute to.

joejccva71

Why should anyone read beyond the word rat?

Uhhh... because in order to have a discussion about the article - you should read it. But you're not interested in having a discussion about the article. You're interested in derailing a discussion you have nothing to contribute to.

But there isn't a point in discussing it if it has nothing to do with humans. Did I miss something here? Why would anyone that is interested in losing weight or have good health and fitness read an article about a rat?

sunkisses

I didn't see the link to the actual study but I follow a blog written by a psychiatrist who examined either this study or a similar one. They use standard rat chow- not a natural diet for rats whether high fat or low fat. What effect does that have on mental and physical performance? That's one variable, second, different fats do different things in the body. Which fat did they use? Would a different fat have a similar or different effect? That's the problem with some of these studies (aside from the fact that they are rat studies)- there's really more variables involved than they claim to be controlling against.

Thank you!

I wondered how they were able to tell the rats were stupider because you can't really measure whether a creature is stupid or not when he can't take the same tests as you. And even then it's still really subjective.

BryanMiner

A new study on ME, verifies that study, at least to me. I am not a rat. I am a 47 year old male with the body of a 20 year old, well in better shape than most kids these days, I am not obese and I dont have diabeties. I have been eating a "whole foods, plant based" diet for a long time. It is Very low in fat. My cholesterol level was 114 last time I had it checked and high in HDLs and almost void of LDLs. My body fat is below 12 percent and I can run a mile in under seven minutes, or 12 miles in 2 hours. My resting heart rate is 60 and my blood pressue runs around 127/74. Pretty good for an old man! I can physically and mentally feel a difference in my energy and alertness after I "splurge" and eat too much fat, basically animal products. There is a lot of peer pressure to eat garbage and be lazy, like the birthday party I went to Friday night at the pizza joint. When I do eat garbage, like pizza, I feel like a slow moving, warm, muddy creek, all murky and full of nasties. When I eat well, I feel like a fast running, crystal clear mountain river. That's the best analogy I've come up with. I agree, from my own experience, with the auther, too much fat in your diet makes you stupid and lazy, AND FAT!

PB67

No.

The article was performed on rats, and thus cannot be directly applied to humans. Period.
Rats and humans process macronutrients differently. Biochemical pathways that are efficient in one species are inefficient in the other, and vice-versa.

So you see I WAS discussing the article. My claim is it has no relevance to human subjects because the study was performed on rats,

Do you get it now?

sunkisses

Why should anyone read beyond the word rat?

Uhhh... because in order to have a discussion about the article - you should read it. But you're not interested in having a discussion about the article. You're interested in derailing a discussion you have nothing to contribute to.

But there isn't a point in discussing it if it has nothing to do with humans. Did I miss something here? Why would anyone that is interested in losing weight or have good health and fitness read an article about a rat?

Ding-ding-ding ! Another genius. THEN DON'T COMMENT! What?! Other people can have a discussion without you telling everyone why you're not going to have the discussion! AMAZING! I wonder if it'll ever catch on!!

sunkisses

A new study on ME, verifies that study, at least to me. I am not a rat. I am a 47 year old male with the body of a 20 year old, well in better shape than most kids these days, I am not obese and I dont have diabeties. I have been eating a "whole foods, plant based" diet for a long time. It is Very low in fat. My cholesterol level was 114 last time I had it checked and high in HDLs and almost void of LDLs. My body fat is below 12 percent and I can run a mile in under seven minutes, or 12 miles in 2 hours. My resting heart rate is 60 and my blood pressue runs around 127/74. Pretty good for an old man! I can physically and mentally feel a difference in my energy and alertness after I "splurge" and eat too much fat, basically animal products. There is a lot of peer pressure to eat garbage and be lazy, like the birthday party I went to Friday night at the pizza joint. When I do eat garbage, like pizza, I feel like a slow moving, warm, muddy creek, all murky and full of nasties. When I eat well, I feel like a fast running, crystal clear mountain river. That's the best analogy I've come up with. I agree, from my own experience, with the auther, too much fat in your diet makes you stupid and lazy, AND FAT!

Thank you!!

Tiggerrick

Why should anyone read beyond the word rat?

The rest of the article was simply stating the conclusions they drew. But rat studies are not directly applicable to humans, so why would it make sense to consider anything the article said once you learn that it was a rat study?

The more you study, the more you realize the differences in causation, correlation, and effect. However, for years and years, we humans have started experimenting first on 'lower' species and gradually moved to human studies. This is a standard that can move forward into 'higher' mammals and eventually humans. Many medications have been discovered this way. Granted, there are limitiations to every study, but should we discount them because they were started on rats? Now why I am wasting my time explaining this???.... *sigh* *head desk*

There is none who is so blind as that who will not see.

Jorra

I didn't see the link to the actual study but I follow a blog written by a psychiatrist who examined either this study or a similar one. They use standard rat chow- not a natural diet for rats whether high fat or low fat. What effect does that have on mental and physical performance? That's one variable, second, different fats do different things in the body. Which fat did they use? Would a different fat have a similar or different effect? That's the problem with some of these studies (aside from the fact that they are rat studies)- there's really more variables involved than they claim to be controlling against.

Now this is an important point. Besides the fact that it's rats, there are just too many things that can be affected due to the unnatural environment and food they are eating.

Personally, I would be a lazy rat too if all I had to do was sit in a cage and be fed delicious food all day.

sunkisses

No.

The article was performed on rats, and thus cannot be directly applied to humans. Period.
Rats and humans process macronutrients differently. Biochemical pathways that are efficient in one species are inefficient in the other, and vice-versa.

So you see I WAS discussing the article. My claim is it has no relevance to human subjects because the study was performed on rats,

Do you get it now?

This was your comment:

A new study on rats

Stopped reading right there.

You are not a rat.

do YOU get why what you said in your previous comment and this one are not the same, and how one facilitates a discussion and the other shuts it down? Thanks for playing.

jamk1446

I didn't see the link to the actual study but I follow a blog written by a psychiatrist who examined either this study or a similar one. They use standard rat chow- not a natural diet for rats whether high fat or low fat. What effect does that have on mental and physical performance? That's one variable, second, different fats do different things in the body. Which fat did they use? Would a different fat have a similar or different effect? That's the problem with some of these studies (aside from the fact that they are rat studies)- there's really more variables involved than they claim to be controlling against.

Thank you!

I wondered how they were able to tell the rats were stupider because you can't really measure whether a creature is stupid or not when he can't take the same tests as you. And even then it's still really subjective.

True. I think the measure of their intelligence is maze tests- how quickly they figure out where to go, how quickly the memorize the right route, etc. I don't know how they could measure stupid vs. not feeling good, either. Not feeling 100% could affect performance too and make them appear lazy or stupid. But as I don't really know what they do to measure the performance, I can only speculate that those measures aren't controlling against a single variable either.

AI1108

I read the whole thing and I have to admit that it sounds like a bit of rubbish.

One reason is that I would not read a study by scientists that conclude that a study may make you "stupid." That's not a scientific conclusion.

Secondly, yes this study was done on rats. While I would not completely discount it on that basis, we need to take every test done on rats with a grain of salt. Science has really only found out what 2% of the human body likes, and I think 2% might be a little exaggerated. Pair that with the untold differences with other mammals and I'm sure we'll find a good amount of flaws in "scientific research."

Thirdly, these "scientists" make no distinction between saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. Yes, we've all felt the effects of a saturated & trans fat diet [read junk food diet]. But why have these "scientists" chosen not to describe the diets of these rats? Science has already found that most people would do well to increase the "good fats" in their diets, mono- and polyunsaturated fats for fat loss.