Feb
A study published in the journal Gut reports thattoo much fast food and too little exercise can harm the liver.
Swedish researchers selected 18 thin, healthy volunteers - 12 men and 6women - to attempt a 5 to 15% body weight increase by eating at leasttwo fast-food-based meals per day for four weeks. The participants inthis intervention group also restricted their level of physicalactivity to no more than 5000 daily steps. A comparison group, matchedfor age and sex, ate a normal diet and maintained normalexercise levels.
The study authors desired to see if doubling calorific intake andincreasing total body weight had any impact on participant’s liverhealth. Researchers checked liver enzyme and fat levels by analyzingblood samples both before the “fast-food challenge” began andat regular intervals throughout the four-week study period.
Changes in enzymes, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and inhepatic triglyceride content (HTGC) were used to indicate liver damage.Abnormally high ALT levels are frequently seen in people who consume alot of alcohol or who have been infected with the hepatitis C virus.HTGC measures fatty acid levels in the liver; too much fat in the liverleads to a condition called fatty liver disease.
At the end of the four weeks, the researchers reported:
- Fast-food consumers had put on an average of 6.5 kg (14.3lbs.)
- Five participants increased their weight by 15%
- One person gained 12 kg (26.4 lbs.) in two weeks
- Sharp increases in ALT occurred after just one week on thefast food diet
- The average ALT level increased four-fold from 22 U/l toof 97 U/l over the 4 weeks
- ALT rose to liver damage levels in 11 participants
- No changes were seen in levels in the comparison group
The increases in ALT levels were linked to weight gain and increasedsugar and carbohydrate intake. One subject developed fatty liverdisease, and there was a large rise in liver cell fat content in theother participants.
The authors note that an increase in the fat content of liver cells isassociated with insulin resistance, which in turn is associated withthe metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance syndrome is a collection ofbiochemical abnormalities which are linked to an increased risk ofdiabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Fast-food-based hyper-alimentation can induce rapid andprofound elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase in healthy subjects
Stergios Kechagias, ?sa Ernersson, Olof Dahlqvist, Peter Lundberg,Torbj?rn Lindstr?m, and Fredrik H Nystrom
Gut. (2008)
doi:10.1136/gut.2007.131797
ClickHere to View Article
Written by: Peter M Crosta
Copyright: Medical News Today