Beware! Eating canned foods can increase the risk of bowel disorder

NEW YORK: Do you like eating canned goods packed in plastic containers? Warning, this can increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – an intestinal disorder that causes prolonged inflammation of the digestive tract, a study shows.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical used in consumer products such as water bottles, containers for storing food and beverages among others and is known to affect crucial stages of development.

Exposure to BPA can also worsen the symptoms of the disease and increase the risk of mortality compared to untreated groups.

"This is the first study to show that BPA can have a negative impact on the metabolism of intestinal microbial amino acids," said co-author Jennifer DeLuca of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science of the United States. A & M Texas University. in the USA.

Previous research has shown that BPA can infiltrate food or beverages from containers made with it and have possible effects on health, brain and brain. "Although the causes of IBD have not yet been determined, environmental exposures such as food, smoking, infections, alteration of the intestinal microbiome, and toxins or pollutants are risk factors for development and relapse. Said co-author Clint Allred of Texas A & M University in the United States.

"Such a risk factor, the hormone estrogen, has been badociated with an increased risk of IBD and BPA may act as estrogen. "In addition, it has been shown that BPA alters intestinal microbes as the gut microbiota is altered in IBD patients," Allred says.

Because humans are frequently exposed to BPA through the consumption of canned foods and polycarbonate plastic containers, it is important to know exactly what effects the BPA exposure may have on IBD, he said. note.

For the study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, the team used animal models and examined data on body weight and fecal consistency in addition to inflammation, injuries and nodularity of the colon.

BPA also increased the levels of several compounds that lead to inflammation in the colon.

IANS