Bsc (Hons) Dietetics (Applied)

AEGEAN OMIROS COLLEGE (GREECE)

Written Article (2000 words)

Title: BSc (Hons) Dietetics (Applied)

Module Title: Physical Activity and Sports Nutrition
Module Code: AOC302DI
Module Leader: EfstathiosSkoufas
No Assessment: 1st assignment, written essay (50%)
Student’s name:
Article title: Latest data on the impact of high-fat diets on metabolic
regulation and athletic performance
Total word count: 3217
Word count (excluding tables and references): 2000

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 Latest data on the impact of high-fat diets on metabolic regulation and athletic
performance
Introduction
High-fat ketogenic diets [<50 g carbohydrates per day, about 60 to 80% kcal from fat,
and about 1.2 g of proteins per body mass (kg) per day (Murphy, Carrigan, and
Margolis 2021)], known for their ability to display a therapeutic potential against
various health issues such as neurological problems and sleep disorders (Gano, Patel
and Rho 2014),usually are promoted as diets able to support intense physical
performance (Murphy, Carrigan, and Margolis 2021). The notably high-fat content of
such diets, in combination with the also notable low carbohydrate consumption
(about 5% of daily calorie intake) is considered a boost mechanism that accelerates
fat oxidation and loss (Harvey, Holcomb,andKolwicz2019).
However, its acceptance and its increasing popularity in the media donot guarantee
its safety, since the scientific community gives emphasis on the ketogenic diets’
possible negative health outcomes such as problematic glucose homeostasis,
gastrointestinal problems, altered blood lipid patterns, and fatigue (Harvey,
Holcomb, andKolwicz 2019). This article aims at providing useful insights as regards
a) the effects of high-fat diets on metabolic regulation, and b) the effects of high-fat
diets on athletic performance. For the purposes of the study, two mini systematic
reviews were prepared.
Main body
As mentioned previously, this article is based on the methodology of systematic
reviews. In order to discuss the impact of high-fat diets on metabolic
regulation,PubMed research and Web of Science (Clarivate) research are performed,
based on the keywords “high-fat diets” or “high-fat diet” and “metabolic regulation”.
Also, for the second part of this study, i.e., the section on the impact of high-fat diets
on athletic performance, the same scientific databases are used (keywords: “high-fat
diets” or “high-fat diet” and “athletic performance”). The inclusion search criteria for
both mini systematic reviewsare:a) articles published in the English language, and b)
articles published during the last six months, i.e., during the period between
December 2021 to May 2022, in order to identify only the most recently
publishedscientific data.
The impact of high-fat diets on metabolic regulation
The PubMed research gave 6 results, and the Web of Science research gave 10
results. After the removal of the duplications (3), 13 articles remained for further
analysis. Then, after reading the abstracts, 4 articles were excluded, since they were
not relevant. Therefore, the final number of articles that were analyzed is 9. The
following table (Table I) gives a brief overview of these recently published articles.

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 Table I

No. Reference Journal Title Article

type
1 Abu elHaija Surgery for Toll-like receptor 4 and Research
et al. 2021 Obesity and myeloid differentiation article
Related factor 88 are required for
Diseases gastric bypass-induced
metabolic effects
2 Alamiand Liu International Metabolic effects of Review
2021 Journal of CCN5/WISP2 gene
Molecular deficiency and transgenic
Science overexpression in mice
3 Bi et al. Stem Cell Bone marrow derived- Research
2021 Research & mesenchymal stem article
Therapy cell improves diabetes-
associated fatty liver
via mitochondria
transformation in mice
4 Liu et al. Food & The metabolic regulation Research
2022 Function of Fuzhuan brick tea in article
high-fat diet-induced
obese mice and the
potential contribution of
gut microbiota
5 Plucińska et Nutritional High-fat diet exacerbates Research
al. 2022 Neuroscience cognitive and metabolic article
abnormalities in
neuronal BACE1 knock-in
mice – partial prevention
by Fenretinide
6 Wu et al. The American Cordyceps Improves Research
2022 Journal of Obesity and its Related article
Chinese Inflammation via
Medicine Modulation of
Enterococcus cecorum
Abundance and Bile Acid
Metabolism
7 Yang et al. The FEBS HPS protects the liver Research
2022 Journal against steatosis, cell article
death, inflammation, and
fibrosis in mice with
steatohepatitis
8 Zhang, J. et International LncRNA DLEU2 regulates Research
al. 2022 Journal of sirtuins and article
Obesity mitochondrial respiratory

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 chain complex IV: a novel
pathway in obesity and
offspring's health
9 Zhang,Z.Y. et Food Dietary L-carnitine Research
al. 2022 Chemistry supplementation article
recovers the increased
pH and
hardness in fillets caused
by high-fat diet in Nile
tilapia
(Oreochromis niloticus)

Alami and Liu (2021) prepared a relevant review article which amongst others
mentions that high-fat diets have the ability to exacerbate crucial parameters such
as insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. That provides some significant
evidence as regards the negative impact of high-fat diets on already existing
metabolic disorders. These metabolic disorders, which have been associated with
type 2 diabetes mellitus (and also with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) may be
mitigated by implementing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, as demonstrated
by Bi et al. (2021). This therapeutic intervention may have the ability to display a
protective potential against increasing height, metabolic disorders, disorders in liver
function, and steatosis, which all are common health issues associated with high-fat
diets (Bi et al., 2021).
Abu El Haija et al. (2021), by using mice as experimental animals, explored the role of
gut microbiota in the overall metabolic response to a high-fat diet. As the authors
showed, the changes in the gut microbiota do mediate the inflammation induced by
the high-fat diet, and determine the characteristics of the metabolic response.
Therefore, there is an underlying mechanism that has to do with the condition of the
gut microbiota.
The previous studies reveal the fact that the health condition of a certain individual
is a determinant of the health impact. For instance, an already existing insulin
resistance or glucose intolerance or/and impaired gut microbiota when combined
with a high-fat diet may lead to unexpected health outcomes. Obviously, there are
many knowledge gaps that had to be covered by further research.
Liu et al. (2022) also investigated the role of the gut microbiota in obese mice. They
found that when the gut microbiota is in good condition, a certain beverage
(Fuzhuan brick tea) contributes to better health outcomes in relation to
glycerophospholipid metabolism. Therefore, the researchers demonstrated that a
certain beverage may act as a therapeutic agent against the metabolic disorders
induced by high-fat diets. The good condition of the gut microbiota is crucial for the
efficiency of this interesting relationship (Liu et al., 2022).

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Yang et al. (2022), by using mice as in the previously mentioned study, demonstrated
that an important hepatokine (hepassocin) is down-regulated during a long-term
feeding with a high-fat diet, but it is up-regulated during a short-term feeding with a
high-fat diet. Also, they found that the depletion of this hepatokine aggravated
insulin resistance. However, the administration of this hepatokine to the mice has
the ability to inhibit oxidative stress, and may act as a protective shield against the
relevant negative outcomes of the high-fat diets. One of the most important health
problems is steatohepatitis whose global prevalence could be considered alarming
(see Dufour et al. 2021).
Zhang,Z.Y. et al. (2022) demonstrated that high-fat diets cause negative effects on
the quality of fish flesh. The authors also proved that a certain supplement (L-
carnitine) helps in the protection of the flesh as regards crucial parameters such as
lipid metabolism. Therefore, this is one more case in which a high-fat diet leads to
the necessity for a therapeutic agent. Another recent study by Wu et al. (2022), after
confirming the lipid metabolic disorders and the inflammation produced by high-fat
diets in mice, demonstrated that Cordyceps (i.e., a therapeutic agent which is based
on a fungus called “Cordyseps”) acts as an anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory agent.
Therefore, this is another study that clearly demonstrates the need for
therapeutic/pharmaceutic agents in the case of high-fat diets.
Another very interesting study by Zang, J. et al. (2022) provides evidence regarding
the association between maternal high-fat diet and metabolic disorders in offspring.
The results of this research, which used mice as experimental animals, showed that
high-fat and high-fructose diets increase the risk of obesity via metabolic pathways
related to sirtuin, which is an epigenetic factor. Obviously, the probable association
between the maternal exposure to a high-fat diet’s ingredients during pregnancy and
the metabolic disorders in offspring is alarming, and requires further studies.
Plucińska et al. (2022) prepared another enlightening study, which demonstrated
that high-fat diets negatively impact metabolic regulation, andare associated with
early mortality in mice. They also found that Fenrenitide may act as a therapeutic
agent against neurocognitive disorders related to this diet. However, given the high-
fat diet, the administration of Fenretinide to mice did not reveal any ability of the
agent to improve the homeostasis ofglucose.
The impact of high-fat diets on athletic performance
The PubMed research gave 1 result, and the Web of Science gave 1 result too. There
was no need to modify the range of the publication dates, since the PubMed’s
review article is a very in-depth review covering the relevant scientific published
data before November 2021. Therefore, the articles that were subjected to further
analysis were the two briefly described in the following table (Table II).
Table II

No. Reference Journal Title Article

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 type
1 Burke 2021 Experimental Nutritional approaches to Review
Physiology counter performance
constraints in high-level
sports competition
2 Furber et al. Nutrients Comparing Acute, High Research
2021 Dietary Protein and article
Carbohydrate Intake on
Transcriptional
Biomarkers, Fuel
Utilisation and Exercise
Performance in Trained
Male Runners

Burke (2021) recently published an interesting review article regarding the ability of
some nutritional approaches to counter the performance constraints related to
intense sports events. As regards the relevant high-fat nutritional strategies, the
author found that the current evidence supporting the utility of these dietary
approaches is limited. Despite the fact that this type of nutritional choice increases
the availability of fatty acids, this increase is not enough to substitute the
contribution of muscle and liver carbohydrates. Indeed, the scientific
evidencedemonstrates that high-fat meals the days before a sports event cannot be
considered performance boosters. Moreover, their usefulness may be adequate only
for some sports that do not require high energy production patterns or in the cases
the athletes cannot support or do not want to support optimal carbohydrate use
(Burke et al. 2021).
In accord with the results of the previous review, Furber et al. (2021) demonstrated
that a diet based on a short-term high protein and low carbohydrate
administrationcannot be considered either a healthy option or an efficient
performance booster. Despite the fact that a high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet may
promote fat oxidation, their ability to enhance the athletes’ performance is under
question. On the contrary, such a diet may lead to the opposite results. The study’s
participants were 16 male runners. Half of them followed a high-protein/low-
carbohydrate diet, and the other followed a high-carbohydrate diet for the same
time period. No difference was observed between the two groups in relation to the
maximal oxygen uptake (oxygen consumption). Despite this study’s limitations such
as the small number of participants, and the fact that muscle glycogen
measurements or post-exercise biopsies of the muscles were not included, the
authors conclude and mention clearly that a high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet
has the ability to decrease athletic performance, and suggest to the endurance
athletes the avoidance of such dietary interventions. However, the probable
association with decreased performance is interesting.
Discussion

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It becomes obvious that high-fat diets hide many health risks. The abundance of free
fatty acids in plasma and liver, and the increased levels of triglycerides in plasma had
already been confirmed by previous studies (e.g., Librán-Perez et al. 2015). It is also
already known that this type of diet may negatively impact the cardia function (Chen
et al., 2016). However, the exact health effects of a high-fat diet are extremely
complicatedin regard to their identification, since there is a clear dependence on the
ingredients of each high-fat diet (Ansar et al. 2017). As regards their contribution to
the athletes’ performance, the recent scientific evidence is clear. This type of diet
does not guarantee enhanced performance, and it may hide health risks to the
athletes.
It is worth mentioning that high-fat diets had already been associated with certain
health issues such as the overexpression of some proteins, abnormal metabolic
rates, glucose intolerance, inflammations in the hypothalamus, and hepatic steatosis
(Gaspar andVelloso 2018). Moreover, Yoshii et al. (2021) have already provided
evidence thathigh-fat diets play a role in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease. Therefore, at least the general public should avoid such dietary habits, since
the hepatic function may be at risk which could be easily avoided via following
healthy dietary habits.
These two mini systematic reviews also reveal an important parameter that should
be highlighted. There is an increasing interest in finding new therapeutic
interventions against the negative health impacts of high-fat diets (see, for instance,
Lee et al. 2021, for another study that describes the probable positive impact of a
certain glycoprotein called “erythropoietin”). Moreover, the fact that some
interventions include natural products should be considered an innovative approach.
Also, of exceptional note is the role of gut microbiota that needs further scientific
investigation.
Conclusion
The scientific community gives emphasis on the “popular” high-fat diets’ possible
negative health outcomes such as problematic homeostasis of glucose, altered bloop
lipid patterns and gastrointestinal problems. Their impact on the metabolic
regulation is really complex and it depends amongst others on each high-fat diet’s
ingredients, and on the health condition of those who decide to follow one of the
many subtypes of such diets. There is also evidence from studies with experimental
animals that maternal exposure to a high-fat diet may produce metabolic disorders,
not only in their organism, but also in their offspring. Obviously, the whole subject is
a new interesting scientific field that has many knowledge gaps -all the studies have
significant limitations- that requires further research. As regards the high-fat diets’
impact on athletic performance, the recent scientific evidence does not agree with
the popular hypothesis that these diets boost the performance of athletes.
Therefore, the athletes should not drastically change their diet habits in order to
participate in a sports event.

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