Something that is already quite internalized among society, precisely, is that abusing food ultra-processed is closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems mainly due to the large presence of low quality fats. But although we think that this bad diet only translates into an increase in subcutaneous fat, medical technology has shown us that they are also filling our muscles with fat.
A new study. This is precisely what a new study has pointed out. published in the magazine Radiology, which, Thanks to images obtained by magnetic resonance, researchers have discovered that the consumption of these products is related to an increase in intramuscular fat in the thighs. And it doesn’t matter how much we go to the gym for this.
The evidence doesn’t lie. Much of nutritional studies are based on surveys and general measurements such as BMI or weight on the scale at certain times of the day. But here science has chosen to take an image to have completely objective data thanks to magnetic resonance imaging that objectively quantifies the internal composition of the muscle.
The results. Here they could see that people who ate a higher proportion of ultra-processed foods had a significantly higher fraction of fat infiltrated into the thigh muscles. But most interesting of all is that, even after adjusting the results for total calorie intake, physical activity levels and other demographic variables.
That is, it is not simply that people who eat ultra-processed foods eat more calories or exercise less, but there is something in the very nature of these foods, such as additives or the lack of fiber, which favors fat to be deposited directly between the muscle fibers.
It’s clinical. This phenomenon of infiltration of adipose tissue into the muscle is clinically known as myosteatosis and, to visualize it, imagine the difference between a lean cut of meat and a marbled or fat-marbled steak.
Why are we worried? Muscles are not only “motors” that allow us to move, but they are metabolically very active organs that are essential for regulating our blood glucose and even for the functioning of our brain. In this way, when fat infiltrates them, muscle quality plummets. And this is a big problem because logically we would begin to lose strength, sarcopenia would develop and there would be a risk of suffering a metabolic disease.
Furthermore, in the context of this study, a poorer quality of the thigh muscles, especially the quadriceps, translates into greater overload of the knee joint and increases the chances of having knee osteoarthritis.
There are nuances. As is usual, the researchers themselves point out that this is a cross-sectional analysis, so we do not have a “photograph” of the current moment and this means that there is no cause-effect relationship. That is, this study was done in older adults and people with previous illnesses, so these results cannot be generalized to the younger population and an independent study must be done with this sample to see exactly if a pizza from the supermarket can be too harmful.
Images | senivpetro in Magnific
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