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Researching fast food foods can cause severe kidney damage
Hamburgers, fries with cola and other so-called fast food or junk food has the reputation of being bad for our health. This food is usually very greasy and contains a lot of sugar. Researchers have now discovered that eating junk food can cause similar damage to our kidneys as the effects of type 2 diabetes.
If you like and often eat fast food, you expose yourself to a major health risk. Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University have now discovered in one study that eating junk food can damage our kidneys. The experts published the results of their study in the journal "Experimental Physiology".
Fast food is very popular in the modern day, because many people have little time during the day to eat something healthy. Thus, these people often resort to junk food. However, this has serious effects on the health of our kidneys, warns now a study. (Image: Alexander Raths / fotolia.com) Too much sugar in our blood can have long-term effects on our organs
A healthy diet is important to our body. This should contain meat and fish as well as many vegetables and fruits. The regular consumption of meat has often been warned. People should not eat meat every day and prefer to consume more vegetables. However, it seems even unhealthier when we often eat fast food.
British scientists found that the consumption of so-called junk food harms our kidneys just as badly as a type 2 diabetes illness. In patients with type 2 diabetes, either insufficient insulin is produced or "the body of those affected does not respond," say the experts. As a result, our body builds up more and more sugar (glucose) in the blood. This setup can then have serious and long-term effects on the human organs. "These can ultimately lead to diabetic kidney disease," explain the doctors.
Study tests effects on models of mice
The results of the new study have now shown that a diet high in junk food and fat can also lead to the potentially harmful buildup of glucose. The effect is similar to the effects of a type 2 diabetes disorder, say the experts. To determine this, the researchers conducted a study on rats. The rats suffered from diseases such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Other animals suffered from obesity and insulin resistance, explain the authors. The physicians tried to observe how insulin resistance and too much sugar or fat in the diet affect the transport of glucose in the kidneys. The rats were either fed junk food for eight weeks, such as cheese, chocolate, biscuits, and marshmallows, or they were given a high-fat diet (60 percent) for five weeks, the authors add.
Diet with a lot of junk food has similar damaging effects as type 2 diabetes
Then the research team tested the effects of diet on blood sugar levels and the transport of glucose. These tests were then compared to data from rats suffering from type 1 or type 2 diabetes. "The results clearly show that not only could a higher number of certain glucose transporters be detected in type 2 diabetes rats, a similar number was also found in the rats who had a diet high in fat and junk food", explain the scientists. Thus, the researchers were able to recognize that type 2 diabetes and an unhealthy diet both have a similarly damaging effect on the human kidneys.
Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of junk food alter the transport of glucose
"The western diet contains more and more junk food and fat, and there is a well-established link between excessive consumption of this type of food and recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes," explains lead author Dr. Havovi Chichger. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes both cause changes in the glucose transport of the kidneys. Junk food or a diet high in fat leads to changes that are very similar to type 2 diabetes, the doctor continues. "We need to understand better how our diet affects the transport of glucose in our kidneys. Only then will we be able to develop new and more effective therapies for the treatment of diabetes and its associated kidney disease, "adds Dr. Chichger added. (As)