America is the land of fast food. When Morgan Spurlock made his documentary about eating nothing but fast food for a month, called, "Supersize Me", he gained 26 pounds. But the most surprising event during his month-long fast food diet, was the relatively quick rise of the liver enzymes (ALT) that usually signal damage to the organ.

Scientists in Sweden created a study based on eating fast food twice a day for a month. Twelve men and six women were selected for the study. One of the requirements for participation was the willingness to accept a possible weight gain of 5-15% of their body weight. I find it interesting that weight gain was considered a "given" before starting the fast-food diet. Physical activity was also reduced during the study to 5,000 steps a day.

Seventeen out of eighteen participants did gain the expected amount of weight. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of thirteen participants also rose as expected, mainly in the first week. Interestingly, even as participants continued to gain weight through out the study, the ALT levels started to drop after the initial rise.

What scientists learned, was that sharp rises in ALT levels can be induced by a combination of what we eat and a lack of exercise. Surprisingly, the fat content of the food didn't seem to contribute to the elevated ALT levels, rather it was the sugar and carbohydrates in the food that caused the ALT levels to rise.

Read the entire study...