Introduction
If you’ve been diagnosed with fatty liver disease, you may be wondering what you can do to reverse it. Fortunately, experts say that with the right diet and lifestyle changes, it is possible to reverse a fatty liver. Eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones can help you reduce fat in your liver and improve your overall health. In this article, we’ll discuss what foods to eat and what to avoid in order to reverse a fatty liver, according to experts.
How to Reverse a Fatty Liver, Say Experts — Eat This Not That
If you have been diagnosed with a fatty liver, you may be wondering what you can do to reverse the condition. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve your liver health and reduce the amount of fat in your liver. Here are some tips from experts on how to reverse a fatty liver.
1. Eat a Healthy Diet
The first step to reversing a fatty liver is to make sure you are eating a healthy diet. This means avoiding processed foods, sugary drinks, and foods high in saturated fat. Instead, focus on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Eating a balanced diet can help reduce the amount of fat in your liver.
2. Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise is also important for reversing a fatty liver. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking, jogging, or cycling, five days a week. This can help reduce the amount of fat in your liver and improve your overall health.
3. Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol can worsen fatty liver disease, so it is important to avoid it if you have been diagnosed with the condition. If you do choose to drink, limit your intake to no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
4. Lose Weight
If you are overweight or obese, losing weight can help reduce the amount of fat in your liver. Aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. This can help improve your liver health and reduce your risk of other health problems.
5. Take Supplements
Certain supplements, such as milk thistle, can help reduce the amount of fat in your liver. Talk to your doctor about which supplements may be right for you.
By following these tips, you can help reverse a fatty liver and improve your overall health. Remember to talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle.
Fatty liver disease is a common condition that’s caused by excess fat stored in the liver. In many cases, people don’t exhibit signs and it doesn’t lead to bigger health issues. But in some, it can lead to liver failure. If you are diagnosed with fatty liver disease, it’s important to take it seriously and make lifestyle changes. The good news is you can prevent and reverse fatty liver disease with healthy habits since the liver has an incredible way of repairing itself. Eat This, Not That! Health talked to medical experts who explain what you need to know about a fatty liver.
Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Dr. Ira Jacobson, Chief of Hepatology and professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health explains, “NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) affects an estimated 30 percent of adults in America. Caused by the excess buildup of fat in the liver the condition is closely linked to the rising incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Left unchecked, it can be as damaging as liver cancer and liver failure, as well as cardiovascular disease.”
Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, Ph.D. Professor of Public Health New Mexico State University adds, “It is a fairly common health issue affecting 20-30 percent of adult Americans. Liver helps digest food, remove toxins, and process fat, but when it is overwhelmed, there is fat accumulation.”
The Cleveland Clinic states, “In most cases, fatty liver disease doesn’t cause any serious problems or prevent your liver from functioning normally. But for 7% to 30% of people with the condition, fatty liver disease gets worse over time. It progresses through three stages:
- Your liver becomes inflamed (swollen), which damages its tissue. This stage is called steatohepatitis.
- Scar tissue forms where your liver is damaged. This process is called fibrosis.
- Extensive scar tissue replaces healthy tissue. At this point, you have cirrhosis of the liver.”
Dr. Khubchandani explains, “Given the high prevalence, it is easy to infer that many cases have no symptoms or history of problems (except when obvious with alcohol use). Lab tests, physical exams, and imaging is needed in a large proportion of cases. Some common symptoms are abdominal pain, weakness, swollen abdomen and legs- if at all one has symptoms.”
RELATED: Signs You Need to Lose Your Visceral Fat Now
Dr. Khubchandani says, “Fatty liver disease can be of multiple types- e.g. alcoholic or non-alcoholic or pregnancy related). Alcohol related fatty liver disease is easy to diagnose due to alcohol use history. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease may not have definitive causes, but a lot of risk factors. Alcoholic fatty liver may do more harm as people may not easily quit, multiple organ damage may occur with it, and a lot of inflammation occurs in body organs.”
“By simply starting exercise you can reduce the amount of fat in the liver. If you currently don’t exercise, start by taking long walks regularly,” Jacobson states. “If you exercise, increase your intensity and try to work out 4 days a week for about 45 minutes.”
Dr. Jacobson says, “Obesity presents additional challenges for patients with fatty liver. If you lose as little as three percent you can decrease the degree of fat deposition in the liver, a 5 percent to 7 percent loss can reduce inflammation, and a 10 percent drop can actually start to reverse scarring.”
RELATED: Over 40? Here’s How to Lose Abdominal Fat
According to Dr. Jacobson, “Eating a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates can help reduce the amount of fat in the liver.”
“The major solutions have to be in the form of lifestyle changes in almost everyone having the problem—weight loss, stop alcohol use, exercise, eat healthy and reduce sugar and processed food, add more vegetables and fiber to food,” Dr. Khubchandani says. “Above all, treat the underlying conditions or risk factors that could be a wide variety (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure, steroid use, infections like Hepatitis, alternate therapy if related to medications).”
RELATED: Proven Ways to Prevent Dementia, Say Experts
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “There’s no medication specifically for fatty liver disease. Instead, doctors focus on helping you control factors that contribute to the condition. They also recommend making lifestyle changes that can significantly improve your health. Treatment includes:
- Avoiding alcohol.
- Losing weight.
- Taking medications to control diabetes, cholesterol and triglycerides (fat in the blood).
- Taking vitamin E and thiazolidinediones (drugs used to treat diabetes such as Actos® and Avandia®) in specific instances.”
And to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don’t miss these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.