The Sin of Gastronomic Indulgence

By Azilleo Kristo Mozihim

Fatty foods. From: The Food Advice Centre

           In our modernised society, it seems that food is everywhere and is available anytime. People nowadays have the huge tendency to overeat and, with the advancement of technology, decrease the frequency of physical activities. This is the reality of the modern world and there is no doubt it has contributed to the occurrence many human illnesses.

   On the 23rd of October 2012 at Jordan Lecture Theatre, Professor Alastair Burt, a pathologist from Newcastle University in the UK presented a lecture entitled ‘Fatty Liver Disease: The Pathology of Gluttony’.

   He starts off the lecture by describing the spectrum of alcoholic diseases which includes, in increasing order of severity, steatosis, steatohepatitis, ciirhosis and heptacellular carcinoma. 

   One of the most common liver disease is alcohol-induced steatosis or alcohol-induced fatty liver disease. He then goes on to explain about the pathogenesis or the mechanism of steatosis in alcohol-induced liver disease (ALD). It basically involves the increase of the NADH to NAD ratio which represents the reductive potential of the cell which leads to the increase in fatty acid synthesis. 

   After that he explains the consequence of alcohol metabolism on the liver cells which includes oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. He also describes the usage of animal models such as guinea pigs and primate to study ALD but none of them fully mimic the spectrum of human ALD. 

  From his lecture, it seems that there is a positive relationship between BMI (Body Mass Index) and the occurrence of steatosis and non-alcohol induced steatohepatitis (NASH). He continues on by describing  paediatric fatty liver disease. 

   He then describes the ALIOS (American Lifestyle-Induced Obesity Syndrome) model. In this model, the diet mainly consist of fat and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Imaging for the assessment of fatty liver disease was also presented. Ultrasound, ultrasound with microbubbles and transient elastography are the few out of many ways to assess fatty liver disease. 

   The other way of assessment is a scoring system based on the biopsy of the patient’s liver. According to him, the scoring is quite unreliable and inaccurate. 

  He ends his lecture by emphasising on the risk factor of ALD and its link with obesity.

From his lecture, it is quite obvious that fatty liver disease is on the rise and it mainly is due to the increase in the occurrence of obesity. Hence, it pays to give attention to our diet. Eat less fatty food such as fried chicken and consume more leafy vegetables. Exercising regularly is important in improving our overall health and losing weight. 

       Do not let the sin of gluttony dominate and make you regret of not resisting from taking a bite of that supersized Mcdonald’s hamburger.

Exercise and eating healthy foods. From:Howstuffworks and Children’s Healthy Food

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