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Dietary carbohydrate restriction in the undergraduate and medical school biochemistry course
Author(s) -
Pogozelski Wendy,
Feinman Richard
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.480.5
Subject(s) - course (navigation) , biochemistry , medical education , food science , chemistry , medicine , engineering , aerospace engineering
We previously described how incorporation of nutrition and the role of dietary carbohydrate‐restriction into the undergraduate [1] and medical school [2, 3] biochemistry curriculum encourages student interest and reinforces metabolic principles. The fundamental role of the glucose‐insulin axis provides the basis of the approach. Recent results bearing on the subject include increased experimental support for carbohydrate‐restricted diets (CRD) and limitations of standard low‐fat (LF) diets, new understanding of the role of dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA) and an emerging picture of benefits of ketone bodies, long associated with deleterious effects seen in untreated type 1 diabetes. The surprising demonstration that CRD with much higher SFA content led to lower plasma SFA than a LF diet allows focus on de novo fatty acid synthesis, the role of the SCD‐1 desaturase and the control of triacylglycerol synthesis. Interest in ketogenesis and ketone body utilization are similarly reinforced.