Too much sugar breaks tiny power plants in fat cells
Excess dietary carbohydrate affects mitochondrial integrity as observed in brown adipose tissue
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When mice eat too much sugar, their fat cells' mitochondria get damaged because they don't have enough healthy fats in their membranes. This makes them cold and weak. Giving them a high-fat, low-carb diet fixes the problem.
Surprising Findings
Cold stress didn't increase UCP1 mRNA in KO mice but protein levels were still lower
This contradicts the assumption that gene expression directly controls protein levels for thermogenesis—showing sugar damage affects translation, not just gene activation.
Practical Takeaways
Reduce refined sugar intake to protect mitochondrial health in fat and heart tissues
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When mice eat too much sugar, their fat cells' mitochondria get damaged because they don't have enough healthy fats in their membranes. This makes them cold and weak. Giving them a high-fat, low-carb diet fixes the problem.
Surprising Findings
Cold stress didn't increase UCP1 mRNA in KO mice but protein levels were still lower
This contradicts the assumption that gene expression directly controls protein levels for thermogenesis—showing sugar damage affects translation, not just gene activation.
Practical Takeaways
Reduce refined sugar intake to protect mitochondrial health in fat and heart tissues
Publication
Journal
Cell reports
Year
2021
Authors
Althea N. Waldhart, Brejnev Muhire, B. Johnson, Dean J. Pettinga, Z. Madaj, Emily Wolfrum, Holly Dykstra, Vanessa Wegert, J. Pospisilik, Xianlin Han, Ning Wu
Related Content
Claims (10)
When mice can't control how much glucose enters their cells, their fat-burning tissue doesn't work as well in the cold because the mitochondria don't have enough healthy fats in their membranes
When mice with excess glucose uptake eat a very low-carb diet, their fat-burning tissue works better in the cold because the diet changes the types of fats in their mitochondria
When too much glucose enters fat cells, they stop making the proteins needed to get and build healthy fats for mitochondria
When fat cells get too much glucose, their mitochondria become stiffer because the fats in their membranes change
When fat cells make too many saturated fats from glucose, these fats travel through the blood to other organs like the heart