According to a new study published in Microbiome, the short term consumption of a high animal fat diet increases a person's susceptibility to a Listeria monocytogenes infection. The study refers to this type of diet as "westernized." The study was conducted on mice at the University College Cork. Researchers found that a high fat and low fermentable fiber diet increases the number of goblet cells, which are a binding site for Listeria bacteria. The diet also "induces profound changes to the microbiota and promotes a pro-inflammatory gene expression profile in the host." Apparently, host inflammatory responses, which is the body's response to an "invader," are significantly downregulated. The effects were seen beyond the gut, as the diet increased the mice sensitivity to altered … [Read more...]