Culprit Carbs May Cause Fatty Liver, Study Finds

Did you hear about the recent study from scientists at Children's Hospital Boston, which reveals that fast-acting, rapidly digested carbohydrates may cause fatty liver disease and that this condition could lead to to liver failure and death?

You can read about this scary phenomenon on BBC News, Yahoo! News, the press release and in the September issue of Obesity.

In addition, I invite you to catch my interview this week on Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio with acclaimed epidemiologist and children's obesity expert David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., leader of the research project.

Dr. Ludwig warns you that if you -- like most Americans -- eat a diet that's high in those rapidly digested carbs, you, too, could become one of millions suffering from this entirely unnecessary condition.

Of course, as readers of this SUGAR SHOCK! Blog know, by quick-burning carbs, I mean cookies, cakes, most prepared cereals and other sugary foods, as well was white bread, chips, white rice, etc. or other "culprit carbs," as I dub them.

Listen to Dr. Ludwig warn about how fatty liver is a byproduct of the obesity epidemic and it may be preventable and treatable through dietary changes.

Interestingly, researchers from the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital Boston fed mice either a high- or a low-glycemic index diet with equal amounts of calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates.

After six months, the mice weighed the same but those animals on the low-glycemic index diet were lean, with normal amounts of fat throughout their bodies. Meanwhile, mice on the high GI diet had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers.

The press release explains:

"When sugar melts out of high-glycemic index food, Ludwig explains, it drives up production of insulin, which tells the body to make and store fat. Nowhere is this message felt more strongly than in the liver, because the pancreas, which makes insulin, dumps the hormone directly into the liver, where concentrations can be many times higher than in the rest of the body. Fat buildup in the liver, or fatty liver, is usually symptomless, but it increases the risk for liver inflammation, which can progress to hepatitis and, in some cases, liver failure.

"Fatty liver is becoming more common in Americans, especially in children, says Ludwig. Many cases in adults can be explained by alcoholism, but not the pediatric cases. Where just one case of fatty liver was reported in children in 1980, now between 1 in 4 and 1 in 2 overweight American children are estimated to have the condition. As these millions of children age, some will progress to full-blown liver disease.

"This is a silent but dangerous epidemic," says Ludwig. "Just as type 2 diabetes exploded into our consciousness in the 1990s, so we think fatty liver will in the coming decade."