So what is in endotoxin?
Endotoxins are food molecules created by bacteria.
They are contained in our food, especially in meat and animal protein, but to some extent in fruits and vegetables although almost nonexistent if the fruits or vegetables that are fresh.
Endotoxins trigger a very powerful immune response in the body.
Some scientists believe that
this constant immune response creates internal inflammation that causes diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, maybe even cancer.
This study attempted to determine the effects of a big meal with high-fat, on endotoxin loads in diabetic people.
Diabetic people are already metabolically challenged.
There is much evidence that endotoxin circulating inside of a diabetic’s body are much higher than the endotoxin load in a normal, healthy person.
The title of this study is misleading. It does not really address high fat.
It addresses food that contains fat AND endotoxins…and is important for ANYONE whether diabetic or not.
In this study, they gave a high-fat meal to 54 people, including some diabetics and some nondiabetics.
The researchers stated that they believe:
atherogenic and inflammatory risk may arise through a combination of dietary lipoprotein patterns and an increase in circulating endotoxin, exacerbated by feeding patterns
The researchers were especially concerned with advice to diabetics to eat frequent meals
They believe that if the frequent meals consist of endotoxin laden food, that diabetics may be getting the wrong advice.
And the same applies to any of us, even those who do not have diabetes.
Because presumably, for any of us, it’s not a good thing to be consuming large numbers of endotoxins.
Endotoxins go through the gut wall and enter the body.
The liver is primarily responsible for processing endotoxins.
Each of us has anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds a bacteria in our gut at any one time. These bacteria are constantly creating endotoxins.
Also, the food that we’re eating may contain large amounts of endotoxins, especially if the food consists of ground meat or prepared meats that have been sitting around for a long time.
The facts were very interesting.
Before they ate, the amounts of endotoxin circulating in the bloodstream were much higher, 70% higher, in the people who had diabetes or prediabetes.
And four hours after eating, the diabetic or prediabetic people had endotoxin levels twice as high as normal healthy people in the study.
The researchers concluded,
a continual snacking routine will cumulatively promote their condition more rapidly than in other individuals because of the greater exposure to endotoxin.
I think that the study shows endotoxins have an important role in health.
Minimizing endotoxins are one of the cornerstones of healthy living.
And if you have any kind of metabolic compromise, then you may want to make sure that the food you’re eating is low in endotoxins.
Eggs, fresh dairy products, fresh meat, fresh poultry are all fairly low in endotoxins. So are fruits and vegetables.
Foods that are high in endotoxins include ground meat, whether cooked or not, aged meat such as lamb, any kind of sausage, ham, baloney, or prepared meats including bacon.
Beware of leftovers
Any foods that have been left over in the refrigerator are going to be high in endotoxins.
This is a good argument for not eating leftovers if you have any kind of immune compromise at all.
Especially leftover meat, poultry, fish, or seafood. Even if it’s cooked, it will continue to accumulate endotoxins.
And it already has a significant amount of endotoxins anyway, which cooking does not destroy.
Eat fresh food
The other take away from this excellent study is to eat fresh food, rather than food that has been aged or sitting around.
It may be difficult to get fresh beef or fresh lamb because so much of it is aged, but if you can avoid age meet, so much the better.
Try to get the freshest fish possible.
I would avoid tuna fish in a can, or canned sardines because these are going to be extremely high in endotoxins.
Seafood especially will be high in endotoxins, and they will not be destroyed in the canning or cooking process.
Citations
High Fat Intake Leads to Acute Postprandial Exposure to Circulating Endotoxin in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/2/375.full
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