In recent years , scientist have started cautiously warning about the subtle trauma thatcertain food additivesmight be causing in people . A new survey out Wednesday suggests that the usual food preservative propionate could be one of these additive to be worried about . In experimentation in both mouse and people , it found eating propionate could negatively affect metabolism , include raising resistance to insulin .
Propionate , or propionic acid , is a ubiquitous part of our world . It ’s naturally produced by many bacteria , including those that live inside our catgut and pelt . It ’s also added to animal feed and human food like high mallow , parched good , and stilted flavorings as a preservative . But though propionate is one of many additives on the Food and Drug Administration ’s generally recognized as secure to eat on ( GRAS ) list , there ’s been some research indicate that propionate is n’t all innocuous in the body .
In animals , for example , it ’s guess that propionate can nurture stemma sugar levels via the liver , which converts glucose from non - carb source of fuel . This ability is even used by metal money of plant - rust ruminant , like cows , to regulatehealthy parentage bread level . In human race , the family relationship with propionate is more mysterious . Some studies havesuggestedthat propionate and other short - chain fatty dot naturally produce by the torso ’s catgut bacteria can in reality help us maintain a healthy metamorphosis , suppress appetency , and reduce the endangerment of obesity . But other studies havesuggestedthat people who have more propionate in their system are more potential to be obese .
Photo: Kris Connor (Getty Images)
To better get a handle on the unforesightful - term result of propionate consumed from solid food , the authors of this current report , publishedin Science Translational Medicine , did feeding experimentation with both mice and people . The human serving of the study was a randomize , placebo - command , twofold - blinded trial with 14 healthy volunteers .
“ We verified that in mice , it does guide to a upsurge of pedigree glucose . But the most interesting thing we check in these experiments is that a single VD of propionate can increase the hormones in the body that are designed to stimulate glucose yield from the liver , ” study writer Gökhan S. Hotamışlıgil , manager of the Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient , Genetic and Metabolic Research at Harvard ’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health , distinguish Gizmodo . “ There are multiplication when that ’s needed , like when you ’re famish or have dangerously low blood sugar . But here , it was almost tricking the body into thinking that it needs to produce glucose when it does n’t . ”
And in people , these higher levels of endocrine also seemed to cause insulin resistivity , think of their bodies did n’t respond as well to insulin ’s sign to lour blood cabbage . Over time , continuing insulin resistance is known to help contribute to typewrite 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders like corpulency .
In the mouse experiments , mouse that were give low doses of propionate for long period of time also gradually gather more weighting than mouse that did not consume propionate . But Hotamışlıgil and his squad are n’t saying that their finding should now make someone annul cheese and bread .
“ We ’re reluctant to make elephantine claims and good word right now , ” he tell . “ This is a proof - of - precept study just instance that we can in reality name these molecules and study their biota , which will then stimulate further workplace . ”
For now , Hotamışlıgil added , there needs to be more research deciphering how exactly propionate might be causing these metabolic changes . In the great unwashed , for instance , they found grounds that propionate ’s effects are happening via the brain and nervous system through the production of epinephrin rather than by directly influencing the digestive system or liver . That inquiry will need to include human studies with lots more voluntary from different labs .
Regardless of what Hotamışlıgil and other scientists terminate up discover about propionate , he sees a silver lining in studies like this that are trying to suss out the more nuanced nutritional effects of food .
“ I think in the 21st one C , we can actually approach dieting and nutrition and solid food with a very different lens than we did a one C ago . Now we have tools that can let us consider in point , on a molecular level , not only the harmful things — because usually , people are interested in the harmful things — but the utilitarian thing in our solid food , ” he said . “ Some of those harmful things we can then very easily rule out from our food for thought preparation or reduce our exposure to , and that could have tremendous wallop on our health . ”
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