Poll: Which Diet Is Most Obesogenic?
Running a poll on X, please vote!
Ben Bikman is one of the smarter people in nutrition science. He posted this the other day, and I just now found some data I had been looking for to address this question.
So I am running a poll on X to answer this question.
The link to the thread is here, the link directly to the poll is here.
The poll will run for the next 23 hours, I’ll post the results and the correct answer tomorrow.
I screenshotted your graphs and added a lipid analysis of lard and asked ChatGPT to analyze the question.
Yes, this fatty acid profile for lard is helpful in understanding its obesogenic properties. Here's how this profile connects to the obesogenic nature of lard:
Key Fatty Acid Insights from the Profile
High Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA) Content:
Oleic Acid (18:1) accounts for 37.1% of the fatty acids in lard. Oleic acid is a MUFA known for being energy-dense and palatable.
MUFAs are metabolically efficient and are more easily stored in adipose tissue than converted into energy under certain conditions.
Moderate Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA) Content:
Saturated fats make up a significant portion (~41%) of the fatty acid profile, dominated by:
Palmitic Acid (16:0): 22.1%.
Stearic Acid (18:0): 12.2%.
Palmitic acid is particularly noteworthy as it has been linked to promoting insulin resistance and inflammation when consumed in excess.
Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio:
Linoleic Acid (18:2 omega-6): 19.7%, a relatively high level for a fat source.
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (18:3 omega-3): Only 0.04%.
This creates a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, which can contribute to pro-inflammatory signaling and adipogenesis. Chronic inflammation from omega-6 fats is strongly associated with obesity and metabolic disorders.
Low Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) Overall but Sufficient for Inflammatory Pathways:
While PUFA levels are not as high as some seed oils, the dominance of omega-6 linoleic acid allows for the activation of fat-storing pathways via inflammatory markers like prostaglandins and leukotrienes.
Absence of Short-Chain and Medium-Chain Fatty Acids:
Lard lacks significant levels of short- and medium-chain fatty acids (e.g., capric, caprylic, or lauric acids), which are less likely to be stored as fat because they are preferentially oxidized for energy.
How This Fatty Acid Profile Contributes to Obesity
Energy Storage Efficiency:
The combination of MUFAs and SFAs in lard provides a readily storable energy source. These fatty acids are metabolically efficient, with little energy lost as heat during processing.
Omega-6 PUFAs and Inflammation:
The significant level of linoleic acid (19.7%) promotes inflammation, which is linked to insulin resistance, increased fat storage, and obesity. Omega-6 PUFAs can also increase appetite via signaling molecules derived from arachidonic acid.
Palmitic Acid’s Metabolic Effects:
Palmitic acid has been shown to impair insulin signaling in muscle and liver tissue, leading to increased circulating glucose and fat storage. This makes it particularly obesogenic when consumed in excess.
Caloric Density:
The high fat content (all triglycerides) in lard contributes to its energy density. Combined with its palatability, this makes it easy to overconsume, particularly in diets designed to induce obesity.
Lack of Counterbalancing Omega-3s:
The negligible omega-3 content means there is little to counteract the inflammatory effects of omega-6 fatty acids, amplifying the obesogenic and pro-inflammatory effects of the diet.
Conclusion
The fatty acid profile of lard reveals why it is particularly obesogenic:
High caloric density and palatability from MUFAs and SFAs.
Pro-inflammatory effects from omega-6 PUFAs like linoleic acid.
Metabolic disruptions caused by palmitic acid and the high omega-6/omega-3 ratio.
This profile makes lard an ideal candidate for inducing obesity in experimental diets, especially when paired with high fat percentages like in the D12492 diet. Let me know if you'd like to explore this further!
I really like Ben Bikmans comments, because we don't eat one ingredient, we eat foods. But I did two years super low sucrose while still eating some starches and my appetite definitely dropped and it was very helpful for weight loss. I suspect both sources of empty calories from sugar and from seed oils stimulate appetite, probably in different ways. Industrial food cynically combines them because they're cheap and addictive. It's fun to say, which is worst, and I'll follow with interest, but in the end crap industrial foods are the problem. And a crap agricultural system is a huge part of the problem too. Farmers should be growing foods that are good for us, in the proportions we actually require. Just as the supermarket has aisles of food that are unnecessary for human life, so vast acreages of land are growing foods/ingredients that are obesogenic in the proportions grown.