/ 11 January 2022

The downside of a Western diet

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As the prevalence of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, continues to grow globally, scientists have pointed to diets rich in fast foods. It’s estimated that cases are rising by 3-9% a year worldwide, but the quickest spread is happening in the Middle East and Asia where the adoption of fast food-heavy Western diets is growing. Scientists at London’s Francis Crick Institute say that fibre-poor processed diets trigger autoimmune diseases by changing our gut microbiomes. But because genetic susceptibilities are also at play, the Institute hopes to tackle the trend with new DNA research that could pinpoint who is susceptible and how they could be treated.

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