Munching on junk food and other highly processed foods is likely to swell the size of your thighs and may put your knees at risk for osteoarthritis — regardless of how much you exercise — according to a recent study.
The researchers behind the study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that eating highly processed foods increases the amount of fat stored inside the thigh muscles. This in turn puts pressure on the knees, which can raise the risk of osteoarthritis in the knees.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
The researchers defined highly processed foods, or ultra-processed foods, as those with ingredients that have been industrially processed, artificially flavored, colored or chemically altered.
Examples of highly processed foods include:
- Breakfast cereals
- Candies and desserts
- Frozen pizzas
- Hot dogs
- Margarines/spreads
- Mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Packaged snacks
- Ready-to-eat meals
The more of these foods people eat, the more fat they accumulate in their thigh muscles, the researchers found.
Highly processed foods are attractive to consumers because they have long shelf lives, are convenient and contain ingredients — sugar, fat, salt and carbohydrates — that trigger the brain’s reward system, according to the researchers behind the study.
The study looked at data on nearly 700 men and women with an average age of 60 who initially were not affected by osteoarthritis.
The people studied had an average body mass index of 27, indicating they were overweight. (BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. The National Institutes of Health consider someone overweight if their BMI is 25 to 29.9 and obese if their BMI is 30 or more.)
In addition, the people studied had diets in which about 40% of the foods they consumed were characterized as highly processed.
In a recap of the study findings, study author Dr. Zehra Akkaya — a researcher in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco — notes that this is the first imaging study to examine the tie between MRI-based skeletal muscle quality and quality of diet.
In the summary, Akkaya says:
“In an adult population at risk for but without knee or hip osteoarthritis, consuming ultra-processed foods is linked to increased fat within the thigh muscles. These findings held true regardless of dietary energy content, BMI, sociodemographic factors or physical activity levels.”
Akkaya also notes that osteoarthritis is a growing problem globally and is the “largest contributor to non-cancer related health care costs in the U.S. and around the world.”
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