가공식품 살 때 AGEs 유의해야 Junk food may be fuelling rise in food allergies, say experts

Junk food may be fuelling rise in food allergies, say experts

Children with food allergies are found to have higher levels of substance in processed foods

Nicola Davis

Sat 8 Jun 2019 

가공식품에 많이 든 고혈당 최종당화산물이 식품 알레르기를 유발한다는 사실이 밝혀졌다./MDLinx

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가공식품 살 때 AGEs 유의해야 고혈당 최종당화산물 AGEs advanced glycation end products  伊연구진 "식품 알레르기 유발 확인"     최근 전 세계적으로 식품 알레르기 환자가 늘어나고 있다. 국내에서도 한국소비자원이 조사한 결과에 따르면 식품 알레르기 사고가 2014년 413건에서 2017년 835건으로 증가했다. 식품 알레르기가 증가하는 원인으로 학계에서는 환경오염이나 식단의 변화, 지나친 위생상태 등을 꼽았다.  그런데 최근 가공식품에 든 성분이 식품 알레르기를 유발할 수 있다는 증거가 밝혀졌다.  이탈리아 나폴리페데리코2대학 중개의학과 로베르토 카나니 교수팀은 6~12세 어린이 61명의 식품 알레르기와 호흡기 알레르기 유무, 식습관 등을 분석했다. 그 결과 가공식품을 많이 먹는 어린이일수록 식품 알레르기를 겪을 위험이 높았으며, 연구팀은 주요 원인을 가공식품에 많이 든 '고혈당 최종당화산물(AGEs)'이라고 꼽았다. 이 연구 결과는 8일 영국 글래스고에서 열린 '유럽소아소화기영양학회 52회 연례학회'에서 발표됐다. AGEs는 지질이나 단백질이 정상적인 효소 반응 없이 당화하면서 변성된 물질이다. 이 성분은 과거에는 당뇨병 또는 당뇨병 합병증을 일으키는 데 주요한 역할을 한다고 추측됐지만, 최근 여러 연구를 통해 조직과 장기에서 노화 현상을 일으켜 동맥경화나 퇴행성 신경질환, 신장병 등 각종 만성질환을 일으킬 수 있음이 밝혀지고 있다. 활성산소와 마찬가지로 혈류를 타고 다니면서 체내 곳곳에 영향을 미칠 수 있기 때문이다. 특히 햄버거나 인스턴트 피자, 스낵 등 가공식품에 이 성분이 많이 포함된다고 알려져 있다. AGEs는 피부 아래에 있는 지방층과 콜라겐층도 변성시키기 때문에 피하 조직에서 체내 수치를 측정할 수 있다.    연구팀이 실험 참가 어린이들의 피하 지방에서 AGEs를 측정한 결과, 식품 알레르기를 겪고 있는 어린이들에게 훨씬 높게 나타났다. 연구팀은 최근 가공식품에 포함된 AGEs가 점점 증가하고, 최근에는 AGEs의 비율이 50%에 이르는 식품도 생산되고 있음을 꼬집었다. 식품 알레르기를 겪는 어린이들의 피하에서 높은 수치가 나타난 만큼, AGES가 식품 알레르기를 유발하는 주요 원인이라고 분석했다. AGES가 면역계 등에 영향을 미쳐, 식품을 항원으로 인식하고 과도한 면역반응을 일으킨다는 것이다. 카나니 교수는 "지금까지 가공 식품을 많이 먹는 어린이가 식품 알레르기를 겪을 가능성이 높다는 조사 결과는 많았지만 정확한 원인은 찾지 못했다"며 "이번에 확실한 증거를 잡은 만큼 전 세계 식품가공업체에서 AGEs 양을 줄이도록 권고해야 할 것"이라고 말했다. 이정아 기자 zzunga@donga.com 동아사이언스

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A ballooning diet of junk food might be one of the factors fuelling a rise in food allergies, researchers have suggested.

Experts say they have seen a rise in food allergies in western countries, including the UK. While true prevalence can be tricky to determine, data published by NHS Digital shows episodes of anaphylactic shock in England due to adverse food reactions rose steadily from 1,362 in 2011-12 to 1,922 in 2016-17.

The culprit, some scientists have suggested, could be substances known as advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs.

AGEs occur naturally in the body, but they are found in high levels in highly processed foods, as well as other sources such as cooked meats. They form when sugars react with proteins or lipids. High levels of AGEs in the body, which it has been suggested can result from consuming AGE-rich foods, have previously been linked to a number of conditions including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

    

Now a small study by researchers in Italy has shown that children with food allergies have higher levels of AGEs in their bodies than healthy children without allergies. Children with respiratory allergies showed no such differences. The team also found that children with higher levels of AGEs consumed more food containing such substances.

Why are food allergies in children on the rise – and is there anything parents can do to protect them?

“They are consuming a lot of snacks, a lot of hamburgers, a lot of French fries, a lot of commercial foods full of AGEs,” said Roberto Berni Canani of the University of Naples, who led the research presented at the annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in Glasgow.

What the children ate was assessed through food diaries kept by parents for seven days, with Canani saying that children with food allergies on average consumed about 20-40% more junk food a week than the allergy-free children, and had correspondingly higher levels of AGEs.

Fast food and takeaways linked to surge in child asthma and allergies

Canani said the team’s research using cells suggested AGEs might directly interact with with immune cells, and they also seemed to have a detrimental effect on the gut barrier.

However, the study is small – involving just 23 children with food allergies, 16 with respiratory allergies and 22 healthy children without allergies – and does not prove that consuming more junk food, or having higher levels of AGEs, causes food allergies.

What’s more, as Canani pointed out, many other factors are thought to be involved in the rise in food allergies, with possibilities including problems with the gut microbiome.

John Warner, professor of paediatrics at Imperial College London, who was not involved in the research, said the latest research was too small to take into account other factors that could be behind the observed link.

“I could suggest a number of more plausible explanations for the findings,” he said, noting that children eating a lot of junk food are less likely to be eating a Mediterranean diet high in fresh fruit, vegetables and fish that has been shown to reduce the risk of allergy. “There are also likely to be other differences in lifestyle of those on a so-called high junk intake including greater exposure to tobacco smoke and other pollutants,” he said, adding that psychosocial circumstances might also be important.

 

Advanced glycation endproducts are found in high levels in highly processed foods, as well as cooked meats. Photograph: Monkey Business Images/Rex Features

Dr Andrew Clark, a consultant in paediatric allergy at Addenbrooke’s hospital, agreed more research was needed, noting that while it might be worth avoiding junk food for many health reasons, it was too soon to say that food allergies was one of them.

“I think this is a useful exploratory study that has generated an interesting theory,” he said. “[But] it needs to be examined in large numbers of patients and in different populations.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/08/junk-food-rise-food-allergies-children

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