skip to Main Content

Brain-researchers seem to be misinterpreting their own data

Higher fat diets in pregnancy appears to benefit learning and immune system. Yet in spite of the evidence, researchers concluded high-fat diets are harmful.

Perhaps as a reaction to yesterday’s publicity about research showing that long-term consumption of low-carb diets reduces insulin and promotes longevity (link to article), the proponents of a low-fat diet try to fight back. So far, their counterpunch lacks punch:

Anxious, or smarter?

“The high-fat groups actually learned faster than the low fat controls, contrary to our expectations. But we think it is because they were more anxious and therefore more motivated to escape the maze.” – Staci Bilbo, PhD, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. (link to article)

I can’t make much sense of this conclusion. I’ll admit I have a bias against low-fat diets. I do believe that since the brain is made of fat, a high-fat diet would likely promote healthier central nervous system development. And I have a hunch this researcher’s bias against low fat diets is throwing her off base completely. Which is a shame, because the good professor is being paid to be neutral and objective.

So here’s what the data says:
The high-fat groups actually learned faster than the low fat controls

This article is continued below...(scroll down)
Kobe Bryant

It helped. I feel great.

"It’s helped. I feel great."

Kobe Bryant
NBA baskeball player
megyn kelly

This has been life changing

"Let me tell you this has been life-changing. I have all of her books, in audible and ebooks! I have gotten rid of all the hateful 8 oils. I have trained my body to eat its own previously toxic body fat. Download that pod it's a game changer!"

Megyn Kelly
Jesse Watters

Life changing

Deep Nutrition changed my life.

Jesse Watters
Fox News Primetime host

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. Prior to reading the book, it was almost impossible for me to lose weight as a diabetic. 

Leontyne Tompkins

I feel free

For the last month, I have really been reading all labels on everything. I have completely remove those 8 oils you talk about. I must tell you, I feel great! I have more energy and I am now 197 lbs (have always been around 205 to 210lbs). I eat potatoes with real butter, grass fed steak, pasta with the right toppings. I eat everything! I seem to crave less sugar. I love it! 

Robert Kirkendall

I feel so much better

I had terrible aches and pains everywhere in my body, my hands, shoulders and knees. I feel so much better and the way I feel is motivating me every day! Thank you

Mike Deb Wootan Burcin

Better than ever

I am an anesthesiologist in Orlando and a huge fan of both of your books! I have been incorporating your principles for the last 10 months and feel that my health is better than ever.

Marnie Robinson, MD

My allergies disappeared

The biggest difference for me (and a surprising one) is that my allergies have almost completely disappeared! This is a big deal for me, because I’ve had allergies most of my life and they have often affected what I do which is a teaching music in [a public school district].  In general, I feel much better and have more consistent energy throughout the day.

Erica Turrell

Heart Palpitations have Stopped

I’ve lost 20+ pounds (also fasting 16-24 hours daily) and haven’t had palpitations except for one occasion — I had a mini bag of Fritos for the first time in July. And, I feel better now on a daily basis than I ever did all through college.

Mike Wright
Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix reader
Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

I’ve lost over 50 pounds

I’ve lost over 50 pounds. I’m 56 years old. Cutting processed food and unhealthy fats from my diet was one of the first things I did on my health recovery journey...I went cold turkey off the bad oils. Emptied my pantry into the trash and just started eating real food

Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

Knowledge I didn’t know I needed

Your Fatburn Fix book is amazing, my friend. Thank you! I’m an Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and I know my stuff. This is the extra layer of knowledge I didn’t know I needed. Well done!

Jennifer Dillman
Fatburn Fix reader

Lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork is great

I have lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork (after 3 months of eating your way) was even better! I was metabolically healthy (per your book) before I read your book, but barely. Lowering my weight, sealed the deal! I have been talking about you and your book to anyone who will listen...Thank you for all you’ve done and what you continue to do! You are changing lives for the better!

Missy Cramer
FatBurn Fix reader

Lost 20 lbs I could never shed

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!

Lauren Smith

I feel great

My waist is four inches smaller. I feel great and many of the minor aches and pains that I had (knees and lower back) are gone. Also, my muscle tone is amazing, even though I have not increased my workout routine.

Richard Janelle
Completed Dr Cate's online course
Kent Matthes

The go-to for strength and conditioning coaches

Whenever I advise my clients about eating to perform I go straight to what I have learned from Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition has become the go-to for strength and conditioning coaches across the country.

Kent Matthes
Major League Baseball Agent with WME Sports
Ken D Berry

Dismantles the lie

Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.  

Ken D Berry, MD
Author of Lies My Doctor Told Me
Dr. Drew Pinsky

She knows the chemistry

Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.

Dr. Drew Pinskey, MD
Globally recognized internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist, media personality, LoveLine Host, and New York Times bestselling author
Kelly Starrett

No one is better at communicating nutritional truth

Dr. Cate has had the single greatest impact on how we talk to people about fueling for both performance or durability. While we all are a little unique, the foundational principles of human nutrition are immutable. If you are looking to create a more durable, resilient body, no one is better at communicating nutritional truth than Dr. Cate.

Dr. Kelly Starrett
Physiotherapist coach and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Brian Lenkzes

Highly recommend The Fatburn Fix

Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!

Dr. Brian Lenkzes, MD
CEO of LowCarbMD San Diego, co-host of Low Carb MD Podcast and host of Life's Best Medicine Podcast
Chris Kaman

Respected in the sports world

Dr. Cate reordered my diet when I was with the L.A. Lakers, and the benefits, for me personally, were felt immediately and have served me to this day. I’ve come to take real food so seriously I started a small family farm. I know of no M.D./nutritionist more respected in the sports world than Dr. Cate Shanahan.

Chris Kaman
NBA Player
Mark Sisson

Brought seed oil issue front and center

Cate brought the seed oil issue front and center. Healthy fats matter. So much so that I created an entire product line to swap out bad fats with good.

Mark Sisson
Founding Father of the Primal/Paleo Movement
Dallas Hartwig

Optimal health starts with food

If you want to understand how optimal health starts with food, start with Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition leaves you with an appreciation of the profound relationship between our genes and the planet, inspiring us to be good shepherds of both.

Dallas Hartwig
Attribution author of The Whole 30
Dwight Howard

Helped me with endurance

Deep Nutrition really helped me with endurance. I started to feel better as a player. I was able to run more, I was able to be more active …and I just decided to keep going with it to this day.

Dwight Howard
NBA Player
Paul Grewal

Silver bullet for me

Dr Cate’s teachings helped me lose 60 pounds like it was nothing. It was like a silver bullet for me.

Paul Grewal, MD 
Dr Grewal Internal Medicine, MD, author of Genius Foods
Joesph Mercola

Radically improve your health…

Dr. Shanahan has provided a solid reference that deserves a place in the library of anyone who is seriously interested in nutrition. Her perspective on the vital role that healthy fat has in our diet is novel and, if implemented, can radically improve your health.

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Author of Fat for Fuel and Founder of Mercola.com
Dave Aspery

Pull up a chair…

I have based my work on the idea that getting the right kinds of healthy fats into your body and avoiding the worst fats is essential to optimal health. I've interviewed dozens of the world's top experts about this, and I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on this topic than Dr Cate. If she’s talking fats, pull up a chair. Take notes.

Dave Asprey
Author of the Bulletproof Diet

The key to unlocking my fatburn

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  

Lauren Smith

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. 

Leontyne Tompkins

> Tears of joy

 I'm crying tears of joy and appreciation for all you've done for me and my health! Without Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix, I would literally still be in the vicious cycle I'd been fighting all my life! In a nutshell - I am no longer a compulsive overeating addict suffering under the crushing 'thumb' of all food and alcohol.     

Penni Wicks

 

And here’s how the low-fat pundits spin it:
Because they were more anxious

But one could just as easily have said this:
Because their brains work better

In another quirky bit of reasoning, the authors conclude a more vigorous response to bacterial infection, which was seen in the high-fat group, is a bad thing.

Immune response was also negatively affected by exposure to a high-fat diet. When exposed to a bacterial challenge or “simulated infection,” the young-adult offspring of obese mothers “had a greatly exaggerated inflammatory response within the brain compared to low-fat controls,” she explained.

In other words, the rats from the high-fat group were able to eradicate the bacteria from their brain faster than the rats from the low fat group. That seems like a good thing to me. Researchers stick bacteria into rat brain, rat immune system eradicates the infection, problem over.

There are problems with concluding anything from this research because they’re not comparing apples to apples. They’re comparing normal weight rats eating low-fat diets with overweight rats eating high fat diets. Other research has shown that animals “eat to calorie, not to volume” so to make rats fat, they have to do some monkeying around–perhaps by denying them exercise or water, or by adding special substances.

With over two decades of clinical experience and expertise in genetic and biochemical research, Dr. Cate can help you to reverse metabolic disease and reshape your body.

Please note: Please do not share personal medical information in a comment on our posts. It will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Another good point, Dana, about MSG not being exactly the same as umami. I think I know where Nancy was coming from and she does know her stuff, here I believe she was referring to the fact that MSG triggers the umami sensation, and not intending to equate the two but thanks for your clarification.

    Glutamic acid is an amino acid and is naturally occurring. However the (unnatural) process of hydrolyzing soy (yeast, and other vegetable proteins) can yield very high amounts of free glutamate which can impact our taste buds and cross the blood brain barrier and have MSG-like effects. It sure makes my cats overeat!

  2. Umami is not MSG, and glutamic acid is not the same thing as monosodium glutamate. MSG is a protein salt. I’ve done a little digging around to see if protein salts even occur in nature, but either I don’t know the right questions to ask or nothing is coming up. If they don’t occur in nature, that’d explain a lot about how we respond to them, I think.

    Glutamic acid IS naturally occurring, though–and probably not harmful unless maybe someone’s already sensitized from MSG intolerance.

  3. Amazing. They can’t leave the herd. You are one of the bravest people I know. I’m so loving your book, as sad as some of it makes me. Then again, it is a great reminder that we do have the power to be the best we can be. Thanks for reminding us all of that.

  4. I’ve found many doctors are foodies, and some of them really get into the source and traditions–eating grass fed/pasture raised, many raising their own pigs/sheep/chickens. Surprisingly though I haven’t met anyone except for a few doctors I work with here in NH who are willing to take it the necessary step further and say the cholesterol theory is flawed and it’s been carbs and trans fats that are killing us.

  5. Brilliantly stated and some great advice. Do you feel that some of the medical and scientific community is beginning to warm up to traditional diets? I have noticed that Dr. Oz is beginning to embrace some of the philosophy: he now talks of the benefits of coconut oil and has had Dr. Mercola on his show. He certainly wasn’t agreeing completely with Dr. Mercola, but on some issues he seemed honestly interested. Are you seeing that anywhere else in your travels?

  6. Hi Dr. Cate,
    Sorry to jump in again, but just read the link for the high-fat study. All I can say is– what? That study goes against every bit of traditional wisdom that any pre modern peoples have ever lived by. That is so completely off, it’s offensive. I really think they are misusing the words “obese mother” (and how did she get that way? on what foods?) and “high-fat diet”. They are not one and the same. I and my family eat a high fat diet….and none of us, especially my children, are overweight or obese. If anything they are nearing underweight. Money. Our side needs money and lots of it. Thanks for the great article.

  7. Hi Dr. Cate,
    Great article, and I love your Sherlock Holmes work on the research! I wrote an article on the dangers of MSG on Examiner.com, and was debated by another Examiner, whose opinions were also backed by studies.
    I am utterly amazed at the mass of studies done: one contradicts the next. I have my own assumptions that major funding is backing those studies that “verifty” a chemically processed additive like MSG to be “naturally occurring” and, therefore, safe. We know the difference between naturally occurring MSG (umami) and the manufactured version; however, there are studies that claim that MSG has no side effects.
    Here we are discussing low-fat/ high-fat diets, and the same bias applies. It is why I sometimes question my desire to bring activism for REAL food into my life. The hassles from the opposing side are overwhelming at times. Just last night I had a venom drooling commenter attack me and my backing of Sally Fallon and WAPF. I suppose standing firm in my beliefs and encouraging knowledge in open minded individuals is the highest purpose for my article writing and blogging. Plus, I get connected with wonderful doctors and fellow foodies like you and your husband! I’ll keep on if you will ; )

    1. Nancy you are bringing up a powerful question: How do you recognize truth?

      The reality is there are scientists of influence out there who don’t really deserve the titles they hold and what passes for science sometimes shouldn’t. I find a useful way to chose what is most likely to be true between two opposing viewpoints is to answer the question of which aligns best with what we know about nature, and go from there. When we do that, even if we veer a few feet to the right and left of the path as we move on, we have to be heading in the right direction.

Comments are closed.

Note: Please do not share personal information with a medical question in our comment section. Comments containing this content will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

Back To Top
Search