Grant: Operating Grant

Obesity has been increasing all over the world. This has lead to a significant increase of a liver disease in adolescents called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is a liver disease that ranges from excess fat being stored in the liver to an inflamed and fatty liver with fibrosis to cirrhosis. NAFLD is thought to be caused by changes in energy, fat and carbohydrate metabolism induced by diets high in in processed foods. Sugary (especially foods with high levels of high fructose corn syrup or HFCS) and fatty foods have been shown to produce more insulin resistance, a factor that is thought to cause a fatty liver. Currently the main treatment for NAFLD is weight loss through diet modification. However, there is currently no guidelines on the best way to achieve this. We have shown previously that adolescents with NAFLD eat a lot of fatty and sugary foods, and that when they decrease the amount of foods they eat that contain HFCS, experience some improvements in insulin resistance and liver dysfunction even when they don't lose weight. Our plan is to compare and contrast how two different diets (high vs low fructose/HFCS containing diets) may affect how much fat gets deposited in the liver and whether or not a lower diet in fructose and HFCS can help decrease liver damage in obese adolescents with NAFLD.