Effects of rancid fat on the redox system

The so-called „Western Diet“, the typical fat-enriched diet of the Western world, is associated with an elevated rate of cancers of for instance the liver. Liver cancer is frequently a consequence of cirrhosis for which inflammation appears to be a requirement, a classical trigger for such inflammation being alcohol abuse. However, the recently increasing appearance of NASH („non-alcoholic steatohepatitis“) in people who are overweighed but not alcohol consumers suggests that overnutrition alone is capable of causing liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, so that Western Diet appears to trigger inflammatory mechanisms by itself. Of great interest in this connection are the consequences of exposure to rancid, i.e. peroxidized fat, as it occurs when fried fast food is being consumed.