The really exciting finding here is the offspring anxiety--also seen in offspring of fat-fed monkeys, by Dr Elinor Sullivan in Oregon (2011). Fatty diet causes low-grade inflammation, which is likely to weaken the placental barrier to maternal corticosteroids: these hormones, in turn, are known to epigenetically programme lasting anxiety in the foetus (Dr Megan Holmes, neuroscientist, Edinburgh). It is likely that the very fatty Western diet, acting in pregnancy, is the root cause of the anxiety seen in about 1 in 4 Westerners, and also seen as a potent driver of bipolar and schizophrenia (by aggravating mild unipolar hypomania and benign schizotypy). Anxiety is readily reversed by Inositol supplement, which inhibits serotonin 2A receptors (C Brink, 2004), thereby blocking the anxiogenic effects of CRF peptide. The reduction in cortisol also means better cognition and immunity, and less stress-driven GSK3beta activation, meaning Inositol can now replace lithium--as shown in a case study (K Kontoangelos).

Posted: Feb 03, 2012 12:22 AM