https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9909-9826
![Sample our Food Science & Technology journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5936/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Food-Science-Technology.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
In modern lifestyle, stress and Western diets are two major environmental risk factors involved in the etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. Lifelong interactions between stress, Western diets, and how they can affect brain physiology, remain unknown. A possible relation between dietary long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), endocannabinoids, and stress is proposed. This review suggests that both Western diets and negative stress or distress increase n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio in the phospholipids of the plasma membrane in neurons, allowing an over-activation of the endocannabinoid system in the limbic areas that control emotions. As a consequence, an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance is induced, which may affect the ability to synchronize brain areas involved in the control of stress responses. These alterations increase vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. Accordingly, dietary intake of n-3 PUFA would counter the effects of stress on the brain of stressed subjects. In conclusion, this article proposes that PUFA, endocannabinoids, and stress form a unique system which is self-regulated in limbic areas which in turn controls the effects of stress on the brain throughout a lifetime.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Alexies Dagnino-Subiabre
Dr. Dagnino-Subiabre earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia (1999), and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Universidad de Chile in Santiago (2003). After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, and research stays at the University of Texas (Atzori Lab) and Stanford University (Sapolsky Lab), USA, Dr. Dagnino-Subiabre joined the faculty as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Universidad Católica del Norte (2006). Currently, Dr. Dagnino-Subiabre is Professor of Neurosciences at the Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile, where he pursues research aimed to understand the neurobiology of stress and resilience (www.stress.cl).