It’s no secret that maintaining a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet is not the healthiest choice for your body.
But up until now, fat gain, cholesterol issues, diabetes and other weight-based issues were considered the main consequences of a low-quality diet.
However, recent research revealed that glycogen – the molecule that stores glucose – can be a catalyst for lung cancer.
This means that your high fat, high carb diet could potentially lead to this deadly disease.
Lung adenocarcinom is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, and also makes up 40 percent of all lung cancers that people have.
The study, which looked at the human tissue samples, found that those with lung adenocarcinom had much higher levels of glycogen in them.
And when they tested on mice, researchers found that more glycogen actually made it easier for the lung cancer to spread and grow at a faster rate.
And when they experimented with eliminated glycogen, they found that the tumor growth became limited.
Research shows that a combination of a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet can lead to lung cancer (stock image)
Now, translated to the foods we eat, glycogen comes from carbs.
When we work out, our bodies use up this glycogen and use it as a source of energy.
But when we’re not using it, it’s stored away for later use.
People who have high-carb, high-fat diets end up making glycogen in surplus.
The combination of the two is also important in this study, as researchers had a group of mice that had a high-carb diet, a high-fat diet, a combination of the both, and a control.
The group of mice that was on both a high-carb and high-fat diet all had higher levels of lung cancer growth than any of the other groups.
This isn’t the first time diets were looked at as potential factors of types of cancers – especially low-quality diets like high-carb and high-fat eating regimes.
Though in the past, the belief that diets can contribute to cancer were limited to pancreatic or liver cancer.
Human tissue with lung cancer was found to show higher levels of glycogen in it (stock image)
Glycogen has been recognized as a feature of cancer cells, and as scientists are looking at its relation to cancer, more research is still required.
This is also true for lung cancer, especially because higher levels of glycogen were not found in other types of lung cancer aside from lung adenocarcinom.
But one thing for certain is that a link does exist – and that it’s important to make healthy diet choices to avoid dangerous conditions including lung cancer.
And things that contribute to a high-carb and high-fat diet like red meat and alcohol should be consumed in moderation.
Your lungs and the rest of your body will thank you for it.
