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Resistant starch is a non-digestible fiber that ferments in the large intestine, and consumption of it has previously been shown to have a positive effect on metabolism in animal studies. Now, a four-month randomized controlled trial in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) indicates daily intake of resistant starch can alter gut bacteria composition and lower liver triglycerides and liver enzymes associated with liver injury and inflammation. NAFLD, caused by a buildup of fat in the liver, affects about 30% of the population worldwide. It can lead to severe liver diseases and contribute to other conditions, such as type...

In a study involving more than 12,000 individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), researchers found a significantly increased risk of severe infections requiring hospital admission. NAFLD is considered a manifestation of the metabolic syndrome in the liver and with the global rise in obesity, NAFLD has emerged as the most common chronic liver disease affecting around one quarter of all adults worldwide. It has also become the fastest growing cause of end-stage liver disease, primary liver cancer and liver transplantation. In a study (the ESPRESSO study) involving 12,133 individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD, and 57,516 matched controls from the general...

People with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may process certain medications less effectively due to significantly decreased levels of an important enzyme, according to a new study. A team of researchers led by Nick Powell, PharmD, and Naga Chalasani, MD, published their findings. Powell said he and his team were building on existing evidence that people with NAFLD may be at risk for altered response to some commonly used medications. "We wanted to see if this could be due to changes in how the liver expresses genes important to handling the metabolism and transport of these medicines in the body,"...

When fat accumulates in the liver, the immune system may assault the organ. Research identifies the molecule that trips these defenses, a discovery that helps to explain the dynamics underlying liver damage that can accompany type 2 diabetes and obesity. Researchers mimicked these human metabolic diseases by genetically altering mice or feeding them a high-fat, high-sugar diet. They then examined changes within the arm of the rodent's immune system that mounts defenses tailored to specific threats. When misdirected back on the body, this immune response, which involves B and T cells, damages the organs and tissues it is meant to...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing cause of serious liver problems and liver-related death among people living with HIV now that hepatitis C can be cured, according to research presented at the 2019 International Liver Congress last week in Vienna. As highly effective treatments for hepatitis B and C lead to reduced mortality among people with HIV, “NAFLD is becoming an increasingly important cause of liver disease,” said presenter Zobair Younossi, MD, PhD, of Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia. In the future, he suggested, NAFLD could become the leading cause of liver disease in this...

Tuesday June 25, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new report published in Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism suggests that eating foods or drinking beverages with fructose may increase risk of endothelial dysfunction, insulin resistance/diabetes mellitus type 2 and hypertension. Z. Khitan and D. H. Kim, the authors of the report, from Marshall University Joan Edwards School of Medicine in Huntington, WV, USA say that uric acid resulting from uncontrolled fructose metabolism is the risk factor for metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus. What happens, according to the report, after fructose is ingested is that the sugar in the liver bypasses two highly...

A Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center study on dietary fructose has provided more evidence of the potential for controversy when researchers target products affecting consumer spending and corporate profits. This time, researchers are on the receiving end of sharp criticism from the Corn Refiners Association after reporting that fructose rapidly caused liver damage even without weight gain with primates.The researchers acknowledged when they released the study results that the role of dietary fructose in the development of obesity and fatty liver diseases “remains controversial.” Researchers determined that over a six-week study period, liver damage more than doubled in the monkeys...

Study suggests US Dietary Guideline for upper limit of sugar consumption is too highA recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that adults who consumed high fructose corn syrup for two weeks as 25 percent of their daily calorie requirement had increased blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, which have been shown to be indicators of increased risk for heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that people consume only five percent of calories as added sugar. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 suggest an upper limit of 25 percent...

<p>CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio third-grader who weighs more than 200 pounds has been taken from his family and placed into foster care after county social workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight.</p>

Last fall, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cut soda and other sugar- and corn-sweetened drinks from the list of “foods” that New Yorkers can buy with federal food-stamp benefits. Lobbyists, from soda makers to grocery stores to minority advocates, have fought the proposal. They say that any restriction would represent an attack both on business and on personal freedom for the poor. That argument is flimsy. As food prices rise, and as the federal government cuts back spending, the mayor’s attempt to safeguard the taxpayer dollar is fiscally and socially sound. Back...

...When I set out to interview public health authorities and researchers for this article, they would often initiate the interview with some variation of the comment “surely you’ve spoken to Robert Lustig,” not because Lustig has done any of the key research on sugar himself, which he hasn’t, but because he’s willing to insist publicly and unambiguously, when most researchers are not, that sugar is a toxic substance that people abuse... ...What we have to keep in mind, says Walter Glinsmann, the F.D.A. administrator who was the primary author on the 1986 report and who now is an adviser to...

High fructose corn syrup, which is linked to obesity, may also be harmful to the liver, according to Duke University Medical Center research. “We found that increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup was associated with scarring in the liver, or fibrosis, among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD),” said Manal Abdelmalek, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology at Duke University Medical Center. Her team of researchers at Duke, one of eight clinical centers in the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network, looked at 427 adults enrolled in the network. They analyzed dietary questionnaires collected...

Two cans of fizzy drink a day could cause long term liver damage, resulting in the need for a transplant, according to new research. Researchers are now urging parents to cut back on their children’s consumption of fizzy drinks as well as reducing fresh fruit juices substituting them for water. Liver damage is normally associated with alcohol abuse but the new study has found that non-alcoholic drinks with a high sugar content can cause a condition called fatty liver disease. Related Articles Artificial sweeteners 'do nothing to help weight loss' Scientists from Israel found that people who drank a litre...

Sweet reversal: Harmful effects of fructose traced to one protein in a study of mice Knocking out a liver protein in mice can reverse the damaging effects of a super-sweet diet. Diets loaded with high-fructose corn syrup wreak havoc on metabolic processes, but how fructose does its damage has been a mystery. The new study, appearing in the March 4 Cell Metabolism, identifies a possible culprit, a protein in the liver called PGC-1 beta. The new research is “putting together things that we know and making a link,” comments Carlos Hernandez of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The...

Dr. John White is the founder & president of White Technical Research, a consulting firm serving the food and beverage industry for nearly 15 years. He has worked with high fructose corn syrup for more than 25 years, and his expertise has been quoted by numerous news outlets. Organizations such as the American Council on Science and Health in Washington, D.C., the Institute of Food Technologists in Atlanta, and most recently the Corn Refiners Association have turned to him and his expertise on the sweetener for answers. Now, QSR talks with him to set the record straight about the similarities...