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How you respond to high-fat diet is linked to genes

Maybe people who eat fatty foods without negative health consequences really haven’t sold their souls to the devil. They may just have good genes. The link between dietary fat intake and heart disease is hardwired into our genes, according to research reported today. “This genetic mutation helps explain why some people are able to adapt to a Western high-fat diet, while others are not able to,” says lead author Jose M. Ordovas. The fat risk is greatest for people who have a specific genetic mutation in the hepatic lipase (LIPC) gene that is involved in the way high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ? “good cholesterol” ? is metabolized. The mutation is called ?514 (C/T) LIPC, and occurs in the promoter (or expression) region of the LIPC gene encoding the ?514 T allele.