The crunchy shells of insects are a nutritional sprinkling that many of us would rather avoid in our meals.
Figuring out which parts of the insect are most nutritious and why could help scientists devise tastier ways to reap the nutritional benefits.
In the current study from WUSL, mice that were fed chitin alongside a high-fat diet ultimately showed improved metabolic readings compared to mice that were fed a high-fat diet without chitin.the researchers found that eating chitin seems to promote a healthy microbiome in the lower gastrointestinal tract.
To dig further into the mechanisms, researchers impaired the ability of some mice to produce the AMCase enzyme and thereby digest chitin. The team then fed these mice a high-fat diet alongside chitin. Compared to the other groups, mice without the ability to digest chitin showed resistance to weight gain, even when fed a high-fat diet simultaneously.