Starchy foods 'may be linked to fatty liver'

Eating a diet high in white rice, breakfast cereal and white bread could be linked to a potentially fatal liver condition, a study has found. Starchy carbohydrates which are quickly digested are known to contribute to weight gain but doctors also believe they damage the liver in what is becoming a 'silent epidemic'. It is now thought that a condition known as fatty liver is caused by high consumption of starchy refined carbohydrates which encourage the body to store energy as fat.

Dr David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life programme at the Children's Hospital in Boston, US, who led the research, said fatty liver was becoming more common in America, especially among children. Just one case of fatty liver in a child was reported in the US in 1980. Today, between a quarter and half of all overweight American children are thought to have the condition. Many of these children will be at risk of full blown liver disease in later life, said Dr Ludwig.

"This is a silent but dangerous epidemic. "Just as type 2 diabetes exploded into our consciousness in the 1990s, so we think fatty liver will in the coming decade. "Fatty liver is going to be one of the tragedies of the future unless we do something about it." He said studies had shown that children given low "GI" breakfasts thrive more and eat less during the day. source: UK Telegraph