High Fat Diets Different In Male Vs. Female Brain

High-fat meals have a different effect on male and female brains, according to recent findings published in the journal Cell Reports. Researchers found that the brains of male rats had greater inflammation and more health risks when eating fatty meals in comparison to female rats who ate the same kinds.

"Our findings, for the first time, suggest that males and females respond to high-fat diets differently," said Deborah Clegg of the Cedar-Sinai Diabetes And Obesity Research Institute in Los Angeles, in a news release. "The data would suggest that is probably 'ok' for females to occasionally have a high-fat meal, where it is not recommended for males."

For the study, researchers examined brain inflammation that's caused by being overweight, an imbalance in blood sugar levels and an increase in inflammation in other parts of the body, including fat tissue. They discovered that similar levels of brain inflammation could also be triggered only in a high-fat diet.

Male mice that ate a high-fat diet also experienced a reduction in their cardiac functioning, while female mice were protected from these side effects. The researchers found that when they changed the brains in male mice, they resembled the fatty acid composition found in female brains, with effects of the high-fat diet nullified.

Furthermore, researchers explained that these differences were due to the fact that females and males had different estrogen and estrogen receptor status.

"The way we treat patients and provide dietary and nutritional advice should be altered. We might be less concerned about an occasional hamburger for women, but for men, we might more strongly encourage avoidance, especially if they have pre-existing diseases such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes," Clegg concluded. "We have always had 'one size fits all' with respect to our nutritional information and our pharmaceutical approach. Our data begin to suggest that sex should be factored in, and men should be more closely monitored for fat intake and inflammation than women."