A new study again confirms that eating fast foods not only causes weight gain, but also rapidly damages the liver. The 18 participants of the new Swedish study had transformations that mirrored filmmaker Morgan Spurlock in his controversial 2004 documentary “Super Size Me.”
For anyone who did not see the documentary, Spurlock spent one month eating all of his meals from McDonald’s to document exactly what would happen to his body on a 100% fast food diet. The startling results included various physical ailments that ranged from low sex drive and facial acne to gaining almost 25 pounds and suffering severe liver damage.
In the new study, the 18 healthy participants ate fast food meals two times a day averaging over 5000 calories per day. According to one physician, the fat consumption alone was the equivalent of eating “3 sticks of butter a day.” The average weight gain for the study participants was approximately 16 pounds, with one participant gaining 26.5 pounds in the one month period.
Liver Disease?
What was even more serious than the rapid weight gain was the blood tests that showed liver damage and demonstrated “a significant risk of developing end-stage liver disease and a lower chance of survival mainly because of cardiovascular disease,” according to Dr. Fredrik H. Nystrom, the primary investigator.
The liver functions to help breakdown fats for energy, but according to Professor Keith-Thomas Ayoob, when fat consumption drastically increases, “the liver cannot keep up with the higher fat levels and the fat eventually infiltrates the liver cells causing liver damage.”
One other finding that was surprising was just how quickly fast food started to damage the liver- 14 of the 18 subjects had elevated liver enzymes indicating liver damage after only one week on the diet.
Click here to view the whole study.
just so everyone on here whos trying to justify that eating fast food is all that bad..get off dream land guys, fast food is bad, i was on a high fat diet for long term, fast food every week about 3-5 times a week or more, and i just had my physical and my lab results came back that my liver enzymes were very high, like 252, so fast food is bad for u, no matter what.. limit the consumption to maybe 2 times a month if u must..im now facing possible liver diesease, but im losing weight now and making better food choices