The impact of excess fat on the sensory system
A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience looked at the relationship between regular fat intake and loss of the sense of smell . This study (1) focuses on the impact that the absorption of a large and regular quantity of fatty products can have on the sensory system.
Thus, the French adage advised by the health authorities and promoted many times via French advertisements ” For your health, avoid eating too fatty , too sweet, too salty “, would be quite topical.
Presentation of the (laboratory) experiment
As often, everything starts in the United States and more precisely within the University of Florida. We already know that the sensory system is the one responsible for information relating to the sense of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell.
Researchers at the American University were more interested in smell, which is directly linked to taste (about 20%). They looked at cravings relating to the sensory sense and relating to the choice of one food or another, to disgust and rejection, to the attraction of such a substance, to the desire to eat sweet or salty, etc.
The study is based on an experiment conducted on laboratory mice. The scientists conditioned them to recognize different smells and divided the rodents into two groups. The 1 st is made up of guinea pigs fed a balanced diet and the 2 nd group includes rodents that only eat fatty products . At the same time, all the mice acquired the following relationship: a specific odor binds to a reward.
Too much fat: only 50% of olfactory neurons remain functional
For more than a year and a half, some rodents are therefore fed with fatty products. Obesity does not take long to appear, which had already been demonstrated many times.
But the researchers found that guinea pigs that ate fatty foods were much slower to understand and assimilate the smell/reward relationship than those that ate healthier foods. The notorious loss of so-called olfactory neurons in rodents overfed with fat thus amounts to almost 50%.
Added to this is :
- A lesser amplitude of olfactory waves measured by EOG ( electro-olfactogram , a measurement to measure an animal’s ability to smell)
- A net reduction in identifying odors in isolation.
Scientists have found that these phenomena are irreversible . Indeed, when the mice are subsequently fed normally and regain a correct weight, these sensory dysfunctions do not disappear. The team concludes that the dietary imbalance therefore presents long-lasting changes in the sensory and mainly olfactory system in the management of chemical information.
Eating fat regularly can lead, in addition to the problem of being overweight for the person, to other complications such as an increased risk of seeing his cardiorespiratory system fatigue early, to realize that his spermatozoa are less efficient and, less harm, that this leads to malfunctions on the sensory system, mainly negative consequences on the sense of smell.
However, questioned by CBS News (2) , Debra Ann Fadool, one of the scientists of the study specified: “we do not know if this study can be applied to humans”. It’s a safe bet that we will have the answer soon, once the research team has conducted the same experiments with sweet products. Under the Florida sun, we might even be surprised by other “revelations”.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.