Blood is thicker than… OATMEAL?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Extra weight brings extra fat to your blood, and heart trouble. What if we could dodge it without losing a pound?
Enter Stefanie Zorn’s team at the University of Cambridge .
They studied a hundred and fifty people with a mutation in a brain switch for hunger and fat storage. These folks were heavier – but their bad cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure were all lower!
Even after eating, they had up to fifty percent less fat in their blood! The team thinks their mutation keeps fat out of their arteries.
Someday, brain-based therapies could help protect hearts – without restrictive dieting.
No oatmeal required!
Reference: Zorn, S., Bounds, R., Williamson, A., Lawler, K., Hanssen, R., Keogh, J., … & Farooqi, I. S. (2025). Obesity due to MC4R deficiency is associated with reduced cholesterol, triglycerides and cardiovascular disease risk. Nature Medicine, 1-9.