When it comes to the topic of severe fatty liver disease there is good news and bad news.
In the spirit of leaving on a good note, let’s get to the bad news first. Then we’ll finish up with the news you can use to avoid developing, or even reversing the effects of, fatty liver disease.
The Bad News: A Growing Threat To Americans
First off, fatty liver disease is a dangerous problem whose prevalence is skyrocketing with the growth of obesity in the United States. Technically referred to as Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), NAFLD affects between 10-20% of Americans. It’s more serious form, known as Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is marked by liver cell damage and inflammation.
The risk factors for NAFLD and NASH include obesity and type-2 diabetes.
These patients typically present with high cholesterol and high triglycerides. When the liver’s weight is 5-10% fat, the diagnosis of fatty liver disease is made. According to the American Liver Foundation‘s website, more than 25% of patients with NASH have cirrhosis of the liver. NASH is a leading contributor to both liver cancer and liver transplantation.
Secondly, NAFLD and NASH cannot be treated pharmacologically. There are no current medicines that will stop, eliminate, or reduce the build up of fat in the liver. For many patients, there are no symptoms. So, the assumption is that there is no problem.
The Good News: Lifestyle Changes Can Be Effective
Treating fatty liver disease, whether it is in the early stages or it has developed into NASH, is still the same: lose weight.
Weight reduction and lowering the Body Mass Index (BMI) can lead to a reduction of fat in the liver, fibrosis, and inflammation. According to most experts, this can be done through diet and exercise.
In using diet to reduce the fat found in the liver, doctors hope to accomplish 4 main goals. In improving the outcome of patients with fatty livers, treatment should:
- Stimulate patient weight loss
- Balance insulin levels to appropriate levels
- Decrease the percentage of fat in the liver
- Be less damaging to the liver
8 Tips for Improved Liver Health
It’s simple, but not always easy. The following steps will help a patient with a fatty liver reduce their weight and in many cases reverse the damage that has been done to the liver by eliminating fat.
1) Eliminate sugar and candy from your diet. The fructose found in many of our snacks and drinks is directly linked to increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Both of those conditions enhance the development of a fatty liver. Eliminate fructose from your diet completely.
2) Eat more raw vegetables. Patients need to focus on increasing complex carbohydrates in their diet and restrict the dietary cholesterol found in animal-based food products i.e. eggs, meat, poultry, cheese, milk, etc.
4) Eliminate flour-based foods i.e. bread, biscuits, desserts.
5) Eliminate simple carbohydrates (such as potatoes, pasta, white rice) and all fried foods.
6) Add quality proteins to your diet:
- Canned or fresh seafood
- Poultry
- Lean, fresh red meats
- Eggs
- Raw nuts and seeds
7) Avoid alcohol and some over the counter drugs. Both can be very hard on the liver and add to your fatty liver problems.
8) Exercise. It is critical to increase your metabolism through light weight training and some aerobic exercise. An improved metabolism will reduce a fatty liver and improve the patient’s insulin resistance.
While the outcome for patients who leave their fatty liver untreated can be very bad news, especially when one considers the seriousness of liver cancer and liver failure requiring a transplant, the overall news is very good.
Patients can, with the proper education and training, prevent fatty liver disease altogether and improve their outcome if it has been diagnosed. They’re aren’t too many rare diseases where that is the case.
