Junk food diet may cause similar kidney damage as type 2 diabetes

New research has found evidence that eating a diet with a high amount of junk food, or high levels of fat, cause the same problems as type 2 diabetes in the kidneys.
In this study, scientists looked at rats with diabetes, diet-induced obesity and diet-induced insulin resistance. They investigated how insulin resistance and too much sugar or fat affects glucose transporters in the kidney.
The rats were either fed cheese, chocolate bars, biscuits and marshmallows for eight weeks, or a rodent chow high in fat (which contained 60 per cent fat) for five weeks. After these time periods they measured the sugar levels in the rats’ blood and the number of glucose transporters in the kidneys, and compared them to a control group.
They found that two types of glucose transporters (GLUT and SGLT), as well as their regulatory proteins were present in high numbers in type 2 diabetic rats.
Interestingly, those who didn’t have diabetes, but had fed either the high amount of junk food or high fat diet also, had higher-than-normal levels of these transporters, and this may have an effect on blood glucose level, increasing glucose reabsorption in the kidneys.
Doctor Havovi Chichger, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the Anglia Ruskin University, UK, and lead author of the study, explained: “The Western diet contains more and more processed junk food and fat, and there is a well-established link between excessive consumption of this type of food and recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes.”
“In our study, type 1 and type 2 diabetes both induce changes in glucose transport in the kidney, but junk food or a diet high in fat causes changes that are very similar to those found in type 2 diabetes.”
Chichger added that “A new treatment for diabetic patients constitutes blocking the glucose transporter in the kidney to reduce blood glucose levels. Understanding how diet can affect sugar handling in the kidneys and whether the inhibitors can reverse these changes could help to protect the kidneys from further damage.”
Processed and junk food causes a lot of problems throughout the Western world, increasing the risk of condition like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. However, the study indicates that damage is occurring in the body, even before these condition develop.