Heart disease and type 2 diabetes, two major lifestyle-related disorders, are strongly linked to chronic inflammation.
New research, reported by Medical News Today, highlights that a modern Western diet—high in processed foods and low in whole, plant-based ingredients—can significantly worsen chronic inflammation.
To investigate this impact, researchers from Radboud University Medical Centre and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College examined the effects of dietary shifts at the cellular level.
Their study found that just two weeks of switching from a traditional African diet to a Western diet led to increased inflammation, weakened immune responses, and disruptions in metabolic pathways associated with lifestyle diseases.
Conversely, switching from a Western diet to a traditional African diet—or incorporating traditional fermented beverages—showed clear anti-inflammatory effects.
The findings reinforce the idea that traditional diets, such as African, Mediterranean, and Latin American cuisines, which emphasize plant-based foods, can support better health and reduce the risk of lifestyle-related diseases, though further research is still needed.
Specifically, the researchers observed that a two-week adoption of the Western diet triggered pro-inflammatory changes, including altered gene expression, increased inflammatory substances in the blood, and impaired function of white blood cells.
Additionally, the immune system’s ability to combat infections was diminished.
However, consuming fermented beverages or returning to a traditional plant-based African diet resulted in reduced levels of inflammation and improved immune markers.
