Friday, August 3, 2007

Scary Stuff From Across the Pond

Wow... just when you thought once wouldn't kill you!
Courtesy GulfNews
London: Think twice before you upgrade to that large size burger and cola at
your favourite fast food joint.
Junk food and soft drinks can cause serious liver damage and signs of diabetes in just four weeks, scientists have found. The shocking results show for the first time how quickly poor diet can affect the body, they say.
Scientists at St Louis University in Missouri fed mice a high fat, high sugar diet modelled on a classic junk food diet, and also restricted the animal's exercise to recreate a sedentary lifestyle. They had hoped to find some signs of change after 16 weeks. Instead, it took only four.
"We had a feeling we'd see evidence of fatty liver disease by the end of the study," said Professor Brent Tetri, who led the study. "But we were surprised to find how severe the damage was and how quickly it occurred. It took only four weeks for liver enzymes to increase and for glucose intolerance - the beginning of type II diabetes - to begin."
My questions for you foodies out there:

What do you think? How often do you typically eat "fast" or "junk" food? And when (or if) you do, what do you choose to indulge in? I can't personally (and I will eventually write an "about me" post explaining everything about me and my situation, it's a long story!) but if I could, it would probably be something decadent and chocolate, like a molten lava cake, or one of the amazing pizzas from Fellini's in Stratford. For a "junky" dinner it would have to be the Oven Baked Cheese Cappeletti from East Side Mario's.

1 comment :

  1. I'm afraid I had junk food last night Sara. Poutine, which is fries, gravy and cheese curd. I have to indulge once in a while or where's the fun????My doctor can tell me about my clogged arteries later.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the feedback!