Diet and health are becoming an increasingly important topic in all aspects of society, politics, and everyday life. A growing concern is obesity, which is marked by a large number of circulating fatty acids. This increased number of fatty acids may alter a body's systems such as immune responses. This makes it even more important to scientifically study the effects of one's diet on several factors such as disease, inflammation, and the gut microbiota. Several studies and hypotheses have been performed and proposed, respectively, to find the underlying implications of a high fat diet. Some studies explore the similarity between fatty acids and bacterial antigens, and their resulting stimulation of similar cascades. Others explore the effects of diet on the gut microbiome which has many implications in the context of disease. It has been shown that the microbiota share a relationship with the host that is usually beneficial, but alterations may cause it to become harmful to the host. This manuscript aims to explore these studies and analyze their results, as well as the many connections between them. It also aims to connect these studies with those that explore the far-reaching results of diet, such as the effects it may have on one's offspring. These effects include disease susceptibility and alterations in the gut microbiome in the offspring.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/13167 |
| Date | 24 September 2015 |
| Creators | Fontecilla, Natalia |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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