A group of fatty acids contained in the fat, cream and palm oil, affects cells and may cause the development of fatal diseases.
Vegetarianism, veganism, raw food, paleo and ketogenic – what types of diets did not appear on the General fashion for healthy way of life. In this case, proponents of each diet program that is ready to provide research results that support their choice, and looking at this carnival cocktails, vegetables and vitamins, it is very difficult to understand what is actually helpful and what is not.
It seems that only one theme can unite nutritionists of all stripes: the hatred of saturated fats. Long known that this group of fatty acids contained, for example, in fat, cream and palm oil, affects cells and may cause the development of fatal diseases. But until now, scientists could not explain the mechanism of their destructive actions.
To find the answer, researchers from Columbia University under the guidance of Professor Mina Wei (Wei Min) have developed a new method of microscopy, which allows real-time tracking of movement of fatty acids after they were absorbed into living cells.
However, this requires the scientists replaced the hydrogen atoms in the composition of the desired molecules of its isotope – deuterium. In the end, the fatty acids retained all their properties, and scientists had the opportunity to observe their movement inside cells using Raman spectroscopy.
The results obtained during the first experiments can be of great value for diabetes, obesity and development of cardiovascular diseases. They were published in the journal PNAS, and description of new technology research. In his article, the team reported that saturated fatty acids are embedded in an elastic cell membrane, making it more rigid.
The fact that the long straight chain saturated fat, strengthens the lipid framework of the membrane, and create the small, dense Islands in which the normal movement of molecules slows down considerably. The accumulation of saturated fat, these areas increase in size, the elasticity of the membrane rapidly decreases, it literally solidifies due to which the cell is gradually destroyed.
“For a long time we believed that the entire cell membrane is similar to liquid, which allows the embedded proteins to change their form and react — says Min . – No one had seen a solid membrane in living cells of mammals, so what we saw was completely new and amazing.”
Fortunately, the process of hardening of the membrane can be reversed by increasing intake of foods rich in unsaturated fats. Such molecules have in their structure the “kinks” needed to ensure the flexibility of biological structures. Lipids built from unsaturated fatty acids, contained for example in fish oil and other seafood, as well as in most vegetable oils.
“We found that adding unsaturated fatty acids can “melt” Islands membranes, “frozen” saturated,” explains study co-author, Yi Hui Shen (Yihui Shen).
In addition, researchers believe that they have developed a unique way of visualization of fatty acids in living cells opens new opportunities to search for methods of treatment of diseases associated with an imbalance of these components in the body. Perhaps in the future scientists will be able to find a way to block the accumulation of “destructive” lipid, that is, without exaggeration, will have enormous implications for global health.
© 2017 – 2019, paradox. All rights reserved.
