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Consulting & Development
Health Care (Germany)
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Medical
News | Saturday, 16 February, 2008 |
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Too
much fast food and too little
exercise harm the liver
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(ArabMedicare.com
News) -- Too much fast
food and too little exercise
can harm the liver, reveals
a small study published
ahead of print in the
journal Gut.
The findings are based on 18
slim, healthy people (12 men
and six women) who took a
"fast food
challenge" for four
weeks, and a comparison
group, matched for age and
sex, who ate a normal diet.
The fast good group
restricted their levels of
physical activity to not
more than 5000 daily steps
and ate at least two fast
food meals, preferably in
well known outlets, every
day.
The aim was to double
calorific intake and
increase total body weight
by between 10% and 15% to
see if these had any impact
on their liver health.
Blood samples were taken
before the challenge began
and then at regular
intervals throughout the
study period, to check on
their liver enzyme and fat
levels.
Liver damage is often
identified by symptomless
increases in enzymes, of
which alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) is
one.
Usually, higher than normal
ALT levels are found in
people who regularly drink
large amounts of alcohol or
who have been infected with
the hepatitis C virus. But
in a significant proportion
of people, there is no
obvious explanation.
Too much fat in the liver
also indicates damage, and
is known as "fatty
liver."
At the end of the four
weeks, those in the fast
food group had put on an
average of 6.5 kg. Five
increased their weight by
15%, and one person put on
an extra 12 kg in just two
weeks.
Sharp increases in ALT
occurred after just one week
on the fast food diet, and
more than quadrupled from an
average of 22 U/l to of 97
U/l over the entire period.
In 11 people ALT rose to
levels indicative of liver
damage. The increases were
linked to weight gain and
especially higher sugar and
carbohydrate intake.
Only one participant
developed "fatty
liver," but test
results from the other
participants showed a steep
rise in fat content in their
liver cells, which is
associated with insulin
resistance.
Insulin resistance is
associated with the
metabolic syndrome, a
collection of biochemical
abnormalities which are
linked to an increased risk
of diabetes and
cardiovascular disease.
No such changes were seen
among those who continued to
eat their normal diet.
Posted:
16/FEB/08
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