fast food really is bad, especially for your liver

that fast-food habit could be setting you up for the potentially deadly build-up of fat in your liver — a condition called non-2022年世界杯预选赛阿根廷 liver disease (nafld) — that many experts say is now an emerging epidemic. an estimated one-quarter of canadians over age 20 have this condition, according to a 2020 study in cmaj open , which can lead to scarring, liver cancer or liver failure.

the study, published in clinical gastroenterology and hepatology , analyzed the most recent data from the 2017 to 2018 national health and nutrition examination survey , the largest annual nutritional survey in the u.s. fast food was defined as meals, including pizza, from either a drive-thru restaurant or one without wait staff.

“people have this idea that alcohol is the only thing that damages the liver, and ‘hey, if i don’t drink alcohol, i can’t have liver damage,’ but that’s not true,” says dr. ani kardashian , lead author of the study and hepatologist with keck medicine of usc . “all those things that can happen if you drink alcohol can also happen if you are eating unhealthy food and putting these really bad ingredients into your body.”

“a true epidemic”

dr. keyur patel, staff hepatologist at the university health network’s toronto centre for liver disease , says the study results aren’t surprising and the grim situation is similar in canada where fatty liver disease is also “a true epidemic.” it’s now one of the main reasons people are on the wait list for a liver transplant.

what is it exactly that makes fast food so unhealthy?

“it’s the certain types of fats, those bad fats like trans fats and the saturated fats as well as the processed sugars. all of those are converted into fat that actually can deposit or build up in the liver,” kardashian says.   “if they also have insulin resistance with diabetes and they’re eating a lot of sugar, that also can lead to bad fat building up and being produced by the body.”

a silent killer

how to protect your liver

patel recommends making better dietary choices as outlined in canada’s food guide and boosting activity. if you’re carrying extra pounds, losing five to 10 per cent of your weight over a period of months will help reduce the fat in the liver and how sugars are processed. seeing your doctor for an annual health checkup and discussing your diet is also recommended.

as for how health-care providers can help, kardashian recommends counselling patients about the negative effects of eating unhealthy foods and fast foods on the liver. patel has made that a little easier by forming a network with other hepatologists across canada to look at increasing knowledge among patients and health-care providers to create awareness about non-2022年世界杯预选赛阿根廷 liver disease