Do you have fatty liver disease? This is a condition that affects about one-quarter of the world’s population. It’s linked to insulin resistance so it’s related to various health conditions like obesity and type-2 diabetes. As the name suggests this condition involves excess fat in liver cells. it’s normal for the liver to contain some fat. However, if the percentage is higher than normal then it qualifies as a fatty liver. It’s important to know details about this condition including symptoms, causes, and treatments. For example, a fatty liver is one that contains over 5% fat. This helps to deal with the issue can a fatty liver disease be reversed.
When treating several health conditions related to vital organs the first options are often prescription medicines or surgery. However, you might be wondering if the fatty liver can be treated/reversed naturally. This would definitely a plus for various reasons. For example, it can help to prevent pain/discomfort linked to traditional treatments. While they can be effective it can be tough to deal with the side-effects. The good news is you can use natural treatments like diet, supplements, and exercise. This makes it easier to deal with a fatty liver with much less chance of side-effects.
What Exactly Is Fatty Liver Disease?
As the name suggests this disease involves a liver with a higher fat content than normal. It’s a serious disease because it’s connected to various health conditions that are related to insulin resistance. This condition that involves blood sugar is also linked to prediabetes and diabetes.
Another reason to deal with this condition is it can lead to other health conditions. That includes a more severe liver disease, which you’ll want to avoid.
a fatty liver happens when there’s fat buildup within live cells. in normal situations, people have some fat in their liver. However, a liver is “fatty” when over 5% of the vital organ contains fat. There are various factors that can lead to this condition. While alcohol can cause it there are other factors that are non-alcohol related.
This condition is quite common in western countries like the USA. In fact, it’s the most common non-alcoholic liver disease in such countries. There’s good and bad news about this disease. on the positive side, it’s a liver disease stage that can be reversed.
What’s the bad news? This condition often isn’t diagnosed. The result is it often becomes more serious and develops into a condition called NASH. So, it’s important to get diagnosed as soon as possible if you have fatty liver disease.
the problem with NASH is that it has higher fat buildup/inflammation, which can result in liver cell damage. over time it can cause scar tissue since the liver cells keep getting damaged and start dying. It’s quite challenging to determine if the fatty liver will develop into NASH. This boosts the chance of very serious conditions like liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Yet another issue related to NAFLD is it can boost the risk of various other diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease. These conditions can make your life tougher.
Can Fatty Liver Disease Be Reversed?
This is a critical issue since it’s the first stage of liver disease. There are various symptoms that you have fatty liver. You might not have all of them but it’s still important to watch out for them. Here are some:
- Higher levels of live enzymes
- High insulin levels
- High blood fat levels
- Pain/fullness in the abdomen
- Fatigue/weakness
There are various symptoms to watch out for that show fatty liver has developed into NASH including:
- Nausea
- Lower appetite
- Stomach pain
- Yellowish skin/eyes
- Vomiting
You can take some steps to treat fatty liver including:
1. Reduce carbs
Studies show that refined carbs are especially important to limit. They include white rice and white bread. Studies show that the majority of liver fat is from the blood’s fatty acids. If you want to lower liver fat you should also reduce carbs and refined grains. This can help to treat the condition.
2. Avoid being overweight/obese
Studies show that weight loss can help to reduce liver fat. this is true whether the weight loss resulted from just diet changes or was combined with exercise/surgery. Various studies showed that reducing body weight helped to reduce fatty liver.
3. Hit the gym
You don’t have to technically do workouts at local/home gyms. The main goal should be to make sure you’re doing weight-resistance and cardio workouts. This should be multiple times each week. This can help to reduce the liver’s fat content. This happens whether or not you experience weight loss.
4. Consume foods that reduce liver fat.
Some options: whey protein, unsaturated fat, fiber, and green tea.
These foods are proven to reduce liver fat. Make sure to add them to your diet in order to reduce liver fat.
5. Consider supplements
Here are some that might help to reduce liver fat. They include omega-3 fatty acids and milk thistle. One caveat is food is a better source than supplements for nutrients.
Top Foods to Reduce Liver fat
1. Coffee
Studies show that coffee has an acid with anti-inflammatory/antioxidant properties. Coffee can also help to treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These are some of the many reasons you should consider drinking an extra cup of java in the morning.
2. Soy/Whey
These proteins also seem to help people prevent fatty liver disease. They can lower blood sugar levels. The proteins can also help with weight loss and maintaining muscle mass.
3. Avocado
Keto-friendly food is about 80% fat. It has water-absorbing fiber and anti-inflammatory nutrients. These can help to decrease blood sugar and reduce the effects of “free radical” molecules that attack healthy cells.
4. Omega-3s
Several studies show that omega-3s might help to lower the liver’s fat levels and bad cholesterol levels among patients with fatty liver disease. More research is required to verify if the fatty acids can help to reduce liver fat. However, until then you should still consider eating more fatty acids, nuts/seeds, etc.
5. Tea
Green tea is the highest in antioxidants. However, various other options like herbal tea is also a good option. A recent study showed that green tea, in particular, might decrease body fat and blood fat. These are benefits that might lower liver fat as well.
6. Broccoli
This is a superfood that can provide several health benefits. Studies show that this veggie is a good one to add to your menus in terms of fatty liver treatment. Studies show that it helped fat buildup in mice’s livers. This result shows that the veggie might have the same effect on humans, which would be good news.
7. Garlic
Studies show this herb might help patients with fatty liver disease. One study showed that garlic powder supplements seemed to lower body weight/fat in patients who already had liver disease. This shows that it might be a practical option after learning can fatty liver disease be reversed.
