The DOI matches its Crossref record; 346 of the 350 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Lifestyle and nutritional imbalances associated with Western diseases: causes and consequences of chronic systemic low-grade inflammation in an evolutionary context
Open accessAbstract
In this review, we focus on lifestyle changes, especially dietary habits, that are at the basis of chronic systemic low grade inflammation, insulin resistance and Western diseases. Our sensitivity to develop insulin resistance traces back to our rapid brain growth in the past 2.5 million years. An inflammatory reaction jeopardizes the high glucose needs of our brain, causing various adaptations, including insulin resistance, functional reallocation of energy-rich nutrients and changing serum lipoprotein composition. The latter aims at redistribution of lipids, modulation of the immune reaction, and active inhibition of reverse cholesterol transport for damage repair. With the advent of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, we have introduced numerous false inflammatory triggers in our lifestyle, driving us to a state of chronic systemic low grade inflammation that eventually leads to typically Western diseases via an evolutionary conserved interaction between our immune system and metabolism. The underlying triggers are an abnormal dietary composition and microbial flora, insufficient physical activity and sleep, chronic stress and environmental pollution. The disturbance of our inflammatory/anti-inflammatory balance is illustrated by dietary fatty acids and antioxidants. The current decrease in years without chronic disease is rather due to "nurture" than "nature," since less than 5% of the typically Western diseases are primary attributable to genetic factors. Resolution of the conflict between environment and our ancient genome might be the only effective manner for "healthy aging," and to achieve this we might have to return to the lifestyle of the Paleolithic era as translated to the 21st century culture.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Chronic LGI is becoming widely accepted as a common basis for many diseases of civilization (Ruiz-Núñez et al., 2013; Table 1).”
From The therapeutic potentials of Ayahuasca: possible effects against various diseases of civilization (2016) · cites this paper as Ruiz-Núñez et al., 2013
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Free radicals in biology and medicine
Gutteridge, J. M. C. (1991) · General Pharmacology The Vascular System · doi:10.1016/0306-3623(91)90478-o · Cited by 17,178
Free radicals and antioxidants in normal physiological functions and human disease
Valko, M., Leibfritz, D., Moncol, J., Cronin, M. T. D., Mazur, M., & Telser, J. (2007) · The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology · doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2006.07.001 · Cited by 14,269
Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Management Committee, Burton, P. R., Clayton, D. G., Cardon, L. R., Craddock, N., Deloukas, P., Duncanson, A., Kwiatkowski, D. P., McCarthy, M. I., et al. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05911 · Cited by 9,442
Oxidants, oxidative stress and the biology of ageing
Finkel, T., & Holbrook, N. J. (2000) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35041687 · Cited by 9,413
Inflammation and metabolic disorders
Hotamisligil, G. S. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05485 · Cited by 9,199
Inflammation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery Disease
Hansson, G. K. (2005) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra043430 · Cited by 8,773
Inflammation in atherosclerosis
Libby, P. (2002) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature01323 · Cited by 8,315
Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM
Sackett, D. L. (2000) · Cited by 5,950
De Filippo, C., Cavalieri, D., Di Paola, M., Ramazzotti, M., Poullet, J. B., Massart, S., Collini, S., Pieraccini, G., & Lionetti, P. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1005963107 · Cited by 5,579
Oxidative stress: oxidants and antioxidants
Sies, H. (1997) · Experimental Physiology · doi:10.1113/expphysiol.1997.sp004024 · Cited by 4,577
Flagged first, then by citations
4 of the 350 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–242 of 242
Immunosénescence : vieillissement « et » ou « du » système immunitaire
Poli, C., Beauvillain, C., Jeannin, P., Rénier, G., & Chevailler, A. (2016) · Revue Francophone des Laboratoires · doi:10.1016/s1773-035x(16)30281-7
Alimentos ultraprocessados e a qualidade nutricional das dietas dos EUA
Steele, E. M. (2017) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.6.2017.tde-19062017-135838
Muskiet, F. A. J. (2018) · Bijblijven · doi:10.1007/s12414-018-0318-2
Self-citationQuintanilha, B. J. (2018) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/d.6.2018.tde-16042018-175847 · Cited by 1
Doddigarla, Z. (2018) · Journal of Medical Science And clinical Research · doi:10.18535/jmscr/v6i11.72
Immunmodulatorische Effekte sportlicher Aktivität
Hinze, C. H., & Peitz, J. (2018) · Arthritis und Rheuma · doi:10.1055/s-0038-1677369
Proceedings of the 3rd International Evolutionary Health Conference
Frassetto, L. A., Bastos, P., brito, F., Deans, E. C., Pardi, D., & Rossiello, A. (2019) · Journal of Evolution and Health An Ancestral Health Society Publication · doi:10.15310/2334-3591.1122
Raza, K., McGrath, C. M., van Boheemen, L., & van Schaardenburg, D. (2020) · doi:10.1093/med/9780198831433.003.0012
Kokosi, T. (2021) · UCL Discovery (University College London)
Arituluk, Z. C., Adhikari, B., Maitra, U., Goodman, C., & Ciesla, L. M. (2022) · Journal of Visualized Experiments · doi:10.3791/63118
Nutrition and the Function of the Central Nervous System
Hammond, B. R. (2018) · MDPI eBooks · doi:10.3390/books978-3-03897-052-1
Richard Hoffman PhD RNutr, F. R. S. A. (2022) · doi:10.1002/9781119826743.ch5
Péron, J., Nuber‐Champier, A., Voruz, P., Constantin, I. M., & Cionca, A. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2404396/v1
Nutritional Imbalance Can Affect the Human Body in Different Ways
Franjić, S. (2023) · ES Journal of Public Health · doi:10.59152/esjph/1016
Zohrabi, T., Nadjarzadeh, A., Jambarsang, S., Sheikhha, M. H., D, A. A. M., & Mozaffari–Khosravi, H. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3610838/v1
Huang, C., Jia, Y., Chai, P., He, H., Liu, W., & Cheng, L.-R. L. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.03.30.587420
Meng, S., Chen, X., Song, C., Fan, L., Qiu, L., Li, D., Xu, H., Meng, S., Mu, X., Xia, B., et al. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4821687
Inflammatory Biomarker Levels and Vaccine Response
Alkire, C. (2022) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · doi:10.12794/metadc1944287
Li, Y., Wang, J., Miao, Y., Dunk, M. M., Maioli, S., Fang, Z., Zhang, Q., & Xu, W. (2025) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/glaf031
Ernährung – Physiologie und Pathophysiologie
Herberhold, M., & Dubbeldam, A. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-3-437-45059-4.00003-2
Ahmed, F., Shah, K., Qasim, A., Hafeez, R., Tariq, H., Rehan, M., & Emad, S. (2025) · Pakistan BioMedical Journal · doi:10.54393/pbmj.v8i11.1286
Silva, A. R., Bernardo, A., de Mesquita, M. F., Patto, J. V., Moreira, P., Silva, M. L., & Padrão, P. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14190359
Additional file 1 of C-reactive protein in traditional melanesians on Kitava
Carrera-Bastos, P., Fontes‐Villalba, M., Gurven, M., Muskiet, F. A. J., Åkerfeldt, T., Lindblad, U., Råstam, L., Frostegård, J., Shapira, Y., Shoenfeld, Y., et al. (2020) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13467361
Self-citationPark, C., Kim, Y., Lee, C., Kim, J. Y., Kwon, O., & Park, T. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.21069330
Silva, A. R., Bernardo, A., de Mesquita, M. F., Patto, J. V., Moreira, P., Silva, M. L., & Padrão, P. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14190365
Silva, A. R., Bernardo, A., de Mesquita, M. F., Patto, J. V., Moreira, P., Silva, M. L., & Padrão, P. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14190362
Dijkstra, S., Hartog, J., Fleer, J., van der Harst, P., van der Woude, L. H. V., & Mariani, M. A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26656426
Dijkstra, S., Hartog, J., Fleer, J., van der Harst, P., van der Woude, L. H. V., & Mariani, M. A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26656432
Hart, M. J., Torres, S. J., McNaughton, S. A., & Milte, C. M. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14211704
Dijkstra, S., Hartog, J., Fleer, J., van der Harst, P., van der Woude, L. H. V., & Mariani, M. A. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26656429
Silva, A. R., Bernardo, A., de Mesquita, M. F., Patto, J. V., Moreira, P., Silva, M. L., & Padrão, P. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14190356
Comparative Systems Biology Analysis of Human and Primate Diets Reveals Enhanced Lipogenic Activity
Tanaka, A., Mori, Y., Sakamoto, H., & Fujii, K. (2024) · Specialty journal of Pharmacognosy Phytochemistry and Biotechnology · doi:10.51847/8lzoasmypn
Pu, H., Wang, H., Gao, J., Chang, Y., Jiang, H., Yu, X., & Zhu, Y. (2026) · Natural Product Communications · doi:10.1177/1934578x261433094
Plant Extracts Target Biofilms to Alleviate Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders in Animals
Wang, Y., Song, S., Gao, S., Zhang, X., Wang, Y., & Liu, B. (2026) · Veterinary Sciences · doi:10.3390/vetsci13040337
Essawi, K. (2026) · The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2026.107040
Park, H.-J., & Kim, H.-M. (2026) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology15171519
Osteopathie und kPNI: ein integrativer Ansatz für Regulation und Gesundheit
D'Have, T., & Golenvaux, A. (2026) · DO - Deutsche Zeitschrift für Osteopathie · doi:10.1055/a-2700-2664
Harness, E. (2015) · OpenCommons - UConn (University of Connecticut)
Metadata
- Authors
- Ruiz-Núñez, B., Pruimboom, L., Dijck-Brouwer, D. A. J., & Muskiet, F. A. J.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- University of Graz (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Muskiet, Frits A.J.
- Venue
- The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-07
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1183-1201
- ISSN
- 0955-2863 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1994348637
- Cited by
- 246
- References
- 350
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 7
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Keywords
- low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance, Western diseases, dietary habits, evolutionary medicine, brain glucose metabolism, serum lipoproteins, reverse cholesterol transport, gut microbiota, physical inactivity, sleep, chronic stress, environmental pollution, dietary fatty acids, antioxidants, Paleolithic diet, healthy aging, genetic susceptibility to disease
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Glucose, Humans, Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Life Style, Nutritional Status
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
