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Journalism of Courage
Used to eating a diet rich in quick-burning carbohydrates like white rice, cereal and bread? Just change your food habits as the starchy diet can lead to liver failure and death.
Yes, according to a study carried out by scientists in the US, diets high in starchy carbohydrates not only expand waistlines but also cause fatty liver that increases the risk of inflammation which can lead to hepatitis and even death.
“Our experiment creates a very strong argument that a high-glycaemic index diet causes, and a low-glycaemic index diet prevents, fatty liver in humans,” according to lead researcher Dr David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital in Boston.
In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after studying the effects of starchy foods on mice by feeding them a high or low-glycaemic form of cornstarch. Each diet had equal amount of total calories, fat, protein and carbohydrate.
According to the study, mice on the low-glycaemic diet were lean while those on the high-glycaemic diet of potatoes, bread, white rice, and processed sugar had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers.
The findings have been reported in Obesity medical journal.
Dr Ludwig and his team are planning to confirm the findings in a newly launched clinical trial in Boston and offer proof that a low-glycaemic diet can reverse fatty liver in overweight children.
“Low-fat diets are currently the standard treatment but many children with fatty liver don’t respond to them. We think it is a misconception that the fat you are eating goes into the liver,” according to him.
