They voluntarily stuff themselves to help in diabetes research
This is a surprising study revealed to us by the Science Translational Medicine website (1). Researchers from Temple University in Philadelphia in the United States wanted to study the mechanisms of diabetes and discover one of the possible origins. To do this, they had the absurd idea of “feeding” people to study the effects on their organism.
The concept of the study
6 people volunteered for the experiment. The latter were locked up for 7 days in a hospital room. All these people, male, were in good health. During these 7 days, they ingested 6000 daily calories, in the form of pizzas or hamburgers, with a ban on physical activity, they had to remain bedridden (= in bed). 6000 calories is more than 2.5 times our normal caloric needs!
Study results
The effects, of course, are not long in coming. All people gained an average of 3.5 kg. But it is the results on their insulin secretion rate that is alarming. In fact, after just 48 hours, insulin resistance appeared in 100% of cases, and even more alarmingly, after 7 days, their insulin level, which is normally secreted after glucose consumption, had decreased by 50%.
Faced with these discoveries, the authors of the study then wanted to determine the causes of this insulin resistance. They then analyzed the urine of the participants, and discovered that overeating caused oxidative stress in the cells, thus causing a destruction of the cell membranes . One of the proteins most affected by this phenomenon is GLUT-4, which has a barrier role in the transport of glucose to cells.
There will be no long-term consequences for study participants. A return to a healthy lifestyle should be enough for the levels to return to normal. Hopefully they haven’t taken a liking to overeating. But this study, for the researchers, still opens a door to a complete understanding of the mechanism of diabetes. Doctor BODEN, director of research, even declared that it was possible that “the addition of antioxidant in a large meal could limit its effects on health”.
A study that still opens our eyes to our lifestyles and the overeating to which we have become accustomed.
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.