Stress May Not Be Beaten By A Healthy Diet

July 11, 2006

Research published online in the Journal of Proteome Research, shows

how improving the diet of rats placed in stressful environments did

not normalise their metabolic profile, an indicator of their health.

The team from Imperial College London and the Nestle Research Centre

divided 36 rats into groups of six. Groups A to D were fed a standard

diet, while groups E and F were fed a diet enriched with long chain

polyunsaturated acids (LC-PUFA) which are normally found in milk and

dairy products.

The rats were subjected to different types of stress, one where they

were separated from their mothers periodically during the first few

weeks of life and a second stress at a later stage where they were

placed on a platform suspended above water. Following the tests,

samples of blood plasma were taken from the rats and analysed using

NMR spectroscopy.

Group A was used as a control group and not subjected to any stress,

while groups B, C, and D were subjected to either one or both

stresses. Groups E and F were subjected to water avoidance or both

maternal separation and water avoidance, as well as being fed the

enriched diet.

They found the stress caused by maternal separation led to a decrease

in lipoproteins and an increase in amino acids, glucose, lactate,

creatine and citrate. The stress caused by the water avoidance

resulted in increased levels of O-acetyl glycoproteins.

Giving the rats the LC-PUFA enriched diet did help to improve their

metabolic profiles, an indicator of health, although the diet failed

to totally normalise them.

Dr Elaine Holmes, from Imperial College London, who led the research

said: " Although the study shows this particular dietary intervention

did not work to significantly improve health, the importance of a

good diet in remaining healthy should not be underestimated. "

" However this work could have important implications for the

development of other dietary interventions. The research shows it is

possible to accurately measure and quantify how changing diet impacts

health. This could ultimately lead to the development of more

targeted and more effective products. "

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