High-fat diet? No problem! (Unless you're stressed.)

A study done at Georgetown University using mice found that a high fat diet did not provoke obesity. However, a high-fat diet combined with chronic stress, did.  Another study, recently published in Circulation, found that mice exposed to air pollution were more likely to develop insulin resistance and abdominal obesity compared with mice who ate the same high-fat diet but enjoyed cleaner air.

We've known for a while that stress and heart disease are linked. Although these are rodent studies, I think its becoming clear that stress and environment may play a role in obesity and Type 2 diabetes, as well--and that we're going to need to think more holistically about tackling these problems. Click here for full article.