Eating fast food on a regular basis can damage one’s liver, according to a study at the University of Southern California’s Keck Medicine.
Even modest amounts can result in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Also known as liver steatosis, the potentially life-threatening condition builds up fat in the liver, which can cause liver cancer or failure, and affects more than 30 per cent of Americans.
Those with obesity or diabetes who consume 20 per cent or more of their daily calories from fast food have severely elevated levels of fat in their liver compared to people who ate less or no fast food, the researchers found.
Further, the public at large has moderate increases of liver fat when one-fifth or more of their diet is fast food, according to an analysis based on the fatty liver measurement of about 4,000 adults.
While previous research has shown a link between fast food and obesity and diabetes, the USC study is among the first to demonstrate its impact on the liver, according to Ani Kardashian, MD, a hematologist with Keck Medical and the study’s lead author.
“Our findings are particularly alarming as fast-food consumption has gone up in the last 50 years, regardless of socioeconomic status,” Kardashian said.
“We’ve also seen a substantial surge in fast-food dining during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is probably related to the decline in full-service restaurant dining and rising rates of food insecurity," he said.
