Fat In Your Lean Tissue?

Fat In Your Lean Tissue?
By Kevin DiDonato MS, CSCS, CES

Higher dietary fats (saturated) have been show to increase your risk for insulin resistance and fat accumulation in other areas of your body, specifically your skeletal muscles.

Increased fat accumulation in skeletal muscles has also been shown to increase insulin resistance.

Now, a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that increasing your intake of PUFA (omega-3 fatty acids) in your diet may increase insulin sensitivity and fatty acid uptake by your fat cells.

Let me explain…

Fatty Diets

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High saturated fat diets have been shown to increase your risk for many chronic diseases and dysfunctions.

Also, a high saturated fat diet has been shown to increase the uptake of fatty acids in your muscles and less in your adipose (fat) cells when insulin resistance is present.

The increased accumulation of fatty acids in your muscles could lead to decreased insulin sensitivity, and promote the storage of fatty acids in other tissues.

Research has shown that different fatty acids could decrease the activity of the insulin sensitive pathways, therefore increasing your risk for insulin resistance.

Typically in the muscle cells, saturated fatty acids are broken down and stored as diacylglycerol.

Diacylglycerol has the ability to activate C-protein kinase, which shuts down insulin signaling.

This could increase the storage of fatty acids in your muscle tissue, further raising your health risks.

However, researchers wanted to see if the type of fat in the diet would affect insulin receptors and storage of fatty acids.

They recruited 10 insulin-resistant men in a single blind, randomized crossover study.

The men were given three different types of high fat diets consisting of either: saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, or polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 fatty acids).

They looked at forearm concentration of fatty acids by muscle biopsies and blood samples (they infused reactive nutrients into the blood to gauge fatty acid uptake in the muscles).

They noted that meals high in saturated fatty acids resulted in a significant increase in insulin and glucose response than the PUFA- and the MUFA-rich diets.

PUFA, which stands for polyunsaturated fatty acids, is another name for omega-3 fatty acids. They are easier to breakdown in the body, due to the chemical structure that comprises its makeup.

MUFA, similar to PUFA, are monounsaturated fatty acids, that again are easier to breakdown in the body than saturated fats..

Both have been shown to reduce many different health conditions that can be cause from a high fat diet (trans-fats and even saturated fats).

They also noted that uptake of triacylglycerol fatty acids in the muscle was lower after the PUFA fatty meal, compared to the other two meals.

The researcher also noticed that PUFA showed less transcriptional down-regulation of oxidative pathways than the other two meals.

The researchers concluded that diets rich in PUFAs reduced triacylglycerol storage in skeletal muscle and that PUFAs increased postprandial insulin sensitivity. Also they noted that PUFA may be protective against the development of insulin resistance.

Although, this research is very new and further shows the need for changing dietary fat concentrations in the diet, it still needs to be verified by more research before actual recommendations could be made to enhance health and wellness.

PUFAs and your Health

Dietary fat intake, research shows, could negatively or positively affect your health.

In fact, saturated fatty acids have been shown to negatively impact many different areas of health, including male reproductive health, heart health, and now factors leading to insulin resistance.

The newest study looking at different dietary fats could show a positive correlation between PUFA and reducing insulin resistance.

Increased fatty acid accumulation in skeletal muscles, and not fat cells, could result in an increased risk for developing insulin resistance.

This could lead to more glucose and fatty acids circulating in your blood and stored in your muscle tissue.

Including more PUFAs in your diet could lead to positive health benefits and the potential to decrease your risk for developing insulin resistance.

Omega-3s That Are 47 X More Powerful Than Fish Oil?

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