The following is an edited excerpt.
A small slice of that chocolate cake couldn’t hurt, could it? Apparently, it can. Two new studies reveal that even occasional indulgences in junk food could produce significant changes in gene expression that could negatively impact physiology and health.
The papers, published in Cell, examined a transparent roundworm called C. elegans. Researchers wanted to see exactly how diet affected gene expression in this organism–especially when it came to crucial physiological changes. They fed one set of worms a natural diet of Comamonas bacteria. The other set they fed the standard laboratory diet of E. Coli bacteria.
In the end, the researchers found that worms fed the Comamonas bacteria had fewer offspring, lived shorter lives and developed more quickly than the ones that were fed E. Coli.
Read the full article here: Diet Tied to Changes in Gene Expression and Health: You are What You Eat
