Posted on 02/29/2024 9:48:11 PM PST by ConservativeMind
An overly robust immune response to usually harmless germs has been linked to colitis, a potentially severe inflammation of the colon. A study not only reveals that the presence of one class of fatty acids is the hidden villain that quietly triggers this inflammation, but also found that another group of fats—unsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil—can alleviate symptoms of colitis in mice.
The cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10), part of the innate immune system, is essential for suppressing inflammatory responses in the gut. In fact, children born without IL-10 need bone marrow transplants which can produce the cytokine in order to survive. Mice that are genetically altered to lack IL-10 develop severe cases of colitis.
In the study, a team of researchers found that the absence of IL-10 leads to a reorganization of immune cell fatty acids. Specifically, the researchers found that the lack of IL-10 enhanced the production of a particularly damaging type of fatty acid, known as ceramides. High levels of ceramides have been shown to be more predictive of heart disease than cholesterol.
York wondered what would happen if ceramides were eliminated in mice with immune systems genetically altered to mimic those of humans. To the surprise of researchers, mice without specific ceramides showed a strong reduction in colitis even in the absence of IL-10. The presence of specific types of fatty acids, they determined, regulated the severity of the immune response.
"Once we understood what fatty acids were important, we hoped to use our knowledge of metabolic pathways to find a way to counteract these inflammatory fats via dietary correction," York said. Indeed, symptoms of colitis dissipated in mice lacking IL-10 when they were fed a diet of unsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Mono-unsaturated fats in olive oil helped reduce colitis, in place of those.
For breakfast I usually toast a piece of bread, then drizzle it with olive oil. While eating their sugary cereals, my family laughs at me. But maybe after I show them this article they won’t laugh quite as much.
Side note to ConservativeMind: Thanks for these articles. They are appreciated.
I’ve switched entirely to olive oil, extra light olive oil for baking and extra virgin olive oil for sauting, etc....I do use Crisco for pies but I don’t make pie that often.
Several years back, Australia required all olive oil importers to submit their oil for testing. None of them passed- they were all corrupted.
Yes, indeed. Thanks for the comment! I always pay a bit more, and only buy “California Olive Ranch” olive oil. Thanks to Biden’s inflation, it is quite expensive. So now I go with their “Global Blend” instead, and hope they’ve kept their standards high.
The olives are old in that stuff. They have to be, having been shipped in from all over.
Get their 100% California...hopefully its fresher.
Ideally, olives are pressed within a couple of hours of harvest. Thats why I always try to find estate bottled brands.
Its not a guarantee of superior quality but its better than knowing its a blend to start with.
My go to affordable is Partana from Sicily, in case you are interested.
If you suffer from stomach troubles and use the term “bouts”, I would suggest a ketogenic diet to eliminate the possibility of your condition being diet related.
In this context, it is not what you are eating on keto, it is what you are not eating, which is processed foods.
I believe we are just on the cusp of understanding what eating all the man-made molecules/ingredients in our food does to us. Processed foods loaded with man-made ingredients are in effect no different than drugs. In fact, they are designed to make you crave them. (see “bliss points”) Drug reactions are mostly unpredictable. Who is to say how anyone might react to the mixture of processed and man-made ingredients in bread? Hamburger Helper? Pink Peeps?
If you pull up to a Wawa or Bucees to “get something to eat”, you are a victim.
Wow, interesting! I’m going through a mild flare of my UC right now, even after my Entyvio infusion. We love our olive oil here, and the oil we’ve been using is a blend from half a dozen different countries.
That California oil IS expensive, but I’ll try it.
Dittos here.
Great information, thanks! As long as I’ve had olive oil in my diet (which is forever) I never thought about a connection between olive oil and colitis.
THANK YOU, CM, for the info!!
I had problems with colitis many years ago. I found out the culprit was hydrogenated vegetable oil in cookies and candy bars. Never had it since.
An old friend of mine got a case of Diverticulitis and he thinks it was from popcorn. Who knows what kind of oil is used in bag popcorn.
Im a big fan of olive oil and have replaced all the seed oils in the house with either olive oil or clarified butter. Im an even bigger fan of clarified butter. Its the easiest thing to make on the stovetop and I keep a quart mason jar right by the stove for easy access. Not sure about the effects of olive oil vs. clarified butter.
I wonder if Avocado oil causes problems....hhhmmmm
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