Osteoarthritis: Fast food damages the joints

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose.Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Saturated fat and lots of low-fiber carbohydrates - if you overdo it, you will usually get fat. It is a surprising new finding that such a diet could also damage the joints directly.

Overweight people suffer from osteoarthritis more often than lean people. The extra pounds put a strain on the cartilage substance, which wears out faster under the pressure of weight - this is how the connection between obesity and osteoarthritis has been explained so far.

Researchers led by Yin Xiao from the University of Southern Queensland have now discovered that an unhealthy diet itself could also contribute significantly to the loss of cartilage.

Unhealthy food, pathological changes

The scientists put laboratory rats on a fast food diet with lots of simple carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour and a high proportion of 20 percent saturated fatty acids.

Compared to rodents, which were fed more healthily, the researchers were able to determine pathological changes in the cartilage substance in the fast-food rats after just 16 weeks. The bone under the cushioning layer of cartilage had already suffered. "Saturated fatty acids are stored in the cartilage substance and change its metabolism," explains study leader Xiao.

In addition, as expected, the researchers found the first signs of metabolic syndrome in the animals. In addition to obesity, this also includes high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar and blood lipid levels.

Dying cartilage builders

In experiments with cartilage cells in a nutrient solution, the scientists found that the saturated fatty acids destroy the chondrocytes - the cells that build up the cartilage substance. The osteoclasts, which are responsible for building bones, also suffered from the saturated fats.

In addition, there were inflammatory processes that typically accompany a metabolic syndrome. Among other things, so-called inflammatory cells became more active in the body, which could additionally accelerate the breakdown of the cartilage substance.

Acquittal for lauric acid

However, there was one exception among the saturated fatty acids: unlike myristic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid, lauric acid, which is also saturated, had no negative effect on the joints. It is abundant in coconut oil, for example - which, however, also contains the fatty acids that damage the joints.

Five million osteoarthritis patients

In Germany around five million women and men suffer from the painful side effects of osteoarthritis. The cartilage substance in the joints increasingly wears out. The joints of the lower extremities and the spine are particularly affected.

Joint wear and tear is a natural aging process, but osteoarthritis can also occur at a young age - for example, due to excessive stress as a result of being overweight, at work or during sports, but also due to a misalignment of the joints. As has now been shown, an unhealthy diet is apparently an additional risk factor.

Tags:  sex partnership tcm therapies