Fat, especially visceral fat, has an important immune function, especially in gastrointestinal infections and in response to GI pathogens in the microbiome. In Podcast #39, Coffee Brown and I discuss Mary Jane West Eberhard’s paper on the evolutionary function of fat and a developmental explanation for the obesity epidemic. Her paper lays the groundwork for understanding why some early life experiences make us more likely to have chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
The key to obesity lies in the adaptive immune function of fat, and its role in fighting gut infections and containing unhealthy microbiomes
Her paper is titled: “Nutrition, the visceral immune system, and the evolutionary origins of pathogenic obesity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ” Read the full text version here: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809046116
I like the argument. My explanation for obesity is similar and has a microbiome focus. The microbiome explains everything, doesn’t it?
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Joe Alcock
Emergency Physician, Educator, Researcher, interested in the microbiome, evolution, and medicine
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