A very-high-calorie version of the typical United States diet caused rapid weight gain, along with other adverse side effects, according to Dr. Guenther Boden and his associates.
The study group of six overweight but otherwise healthy men was fed a roughly 6,000-calorie diet representing the average U.S. diet, composed of 50% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and 15% fat. After consuming this high-calorie diet for 1 week, participants gained an average of 3.5 kg. It took only 2-3 days before subjects developed systemic and adipose insulin resistance and oxidative stress. No inflammatory or endoplasmic reticulum stress was found.
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Oxidative stress was linked to extensive oxidation and carbonylation of various proteins within adipose tissue, including carbonylation and loss of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) activity. “The observation of carbonylation in proximity to the GLUT4 glucose transport channel strongly suggested that GLUT4 had become dysfunctional, resulting in insulin resistance and providing a likely causal link between overnutrition and insulin resistance,” the investigators noted.
Find the full study in Science Translational Medicine (doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aac4765).