Article #15
What is Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease?
NAFLD is a general term that refers to varied liver conditions that usually affect those who consume little or no alcohol.
The main characteristic of this condition is too much fat being stored in the liver cells. It is becoming increasingly common and is one of the most chronic forms of chronic liver disease.
What is Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a type of diet that it is usually low in carbs and high in fat and comes with plenty of health benefits. It can significantly improve your health and has a lot in common with the low carb and Atkins diets.
Starting this diet involves a reduction of carbohydrate intake and replacing this with fat. The result is a metabolic state induced in your body, known as ketosis. Your body can be able to burn more fats to produce energy in this state.
In the liver, fats are turned into ketones, a reliable source of energy for the brain. This diet can also reduce insulin and blood sugar levels in the body which means that they have plenty of health benefits that are associated with them.
Low-Fat Diet
A low-fat diet is the kind of diet that is usually adopted to cut out additional calories from the body. The foods known to be low in fats are generally 30% or less of the calories coming from fats. Nutritional labels typically contain this information which means that determining whether a food is low in fat is much easier.
Plant foods are the primary source of food in this diet and lean meats and fish are preferred over other fat sources. There are cases in which limiting the fat in your diet can provide several benefits.
If you are currently recovering from gallbladder surgery or pancreas disease, this is the recommended diet for you. It will enable you to have a faster recovery and help your body repair itself without complications. Some of the foods that are involved in the low-fat diet include:-
- Leafy greens
- Fruits
- Beans and legumes
- Sweet potatoes
- Tart cherry juice
- Cruciferous vegetables
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Ancient grains
- White, lean fish
- Chicken breast
- Low-fat dairy
- Egg whites
Anyone with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease can benefit from having a low-fat diet. When you include these foods in your diet, you will reduce your fat intake which can be helpful. You can also use supplements to help with your condition.
Administration of the supplements for medium to long periods may restore your body to its working condition. Lifestyle changes are also recommended for faster recovery from the condition. Some of the dietary supplements that you can use include:
Causes of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is caused by various factors such as:-
- Obesity and being overweight
- Insulin resistance. In this case, the cells cannot take up sugar even when triggered by the Insulin hormone.
- High blood sugar
- High levels of fats in the blood. Triglycerides are mainly responsible for this condition and when they are in the blood at a high level, they usually cause the condition.
- Eating excess calories usually causes a build-up of fat in the liver, and as such, the liver will not be able to process fats as it is supposed to. When this happens, fats start to accumulate in the liver, leading to fatty liver disease.
Even when you have no history of continued alcohol use, you can still get nonalcoholic fatty liver disease if your diet has excessive sugar and fat levels.
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Risks
Several other conditions and diseases are known to increase your risk of NAFLD. They include:-
- High cholesterol
- High levels of triglycerides in the blood
- Metabolic syndrome
- Obesity, mainly if the fat is concentrated around the abdomen
- Sleep apnea
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Type 2 diabetes
- Under-active thyroid
- Under-active pituitary gland
- People over the age of 50
- People that smoke
Older people, people with diabetes and those with body fat concentrated in the abdomen are more likely to develop NAFLD than other groups of people. The health problems are associated with fat deposits in the liver.
Excess fats are known to be a toxin to the liver cells. They cause liver inflammation which can also lead to the development of scar tissue in the liver. This is why people in these groups are advised to start using ketogenic diet or a low carb diet to help with their condition.
How to Know if You Have NAFLD
In the very early stages of NAFLD, there are usually no symptoms. As such, it isn’t easy to know whether you have it unless it has been diagnosed after tests. However, the condition in its advanced stages has several symptoms such as:-
- An aching or dull pain in the top right of the tummy. This is usually above the lower right side of the ribs.
- Fatigue and a feeling of extreme tiredness
- Weight loss that cannot be explained
- Weakness
An ultrasound scan of your tummy is usually the best way to spot the condition. After the initial diagnosis, further tests are required to determine the stage you are in. This means using blood tests and a Fibroscan.
A biopsy might also be necessary for some people where a small sample of the liver tissue is taken to be further analyzed.
Supplements That Might Help
Dietary supplements are known to be helpful for people that are dealing with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. They ensure that the body can get the vitamins that it requires and as such, it will be able to keep the body’s organs and functions running with ease.
Nutritional supplements are also recommended to stop the condition from getting any worse. Whenever you are getting nutrients in the proper doses, your body will counter the condition and manage it more effectively.
An Omega-3 supplement can help with the symptoms of fatty liver disease. These polyunsaturated fats are found in foods like seeds, nuts, and oily fish.
They are the recommended supplements for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and are also known to be beneficial for heart health. Some of the vitamins that are recommended for liver repair include:-
- Vitamin A and Iron
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin B12 Lifestyle Changes
A bit of improvement to your lifestyle is also helpful in dealing with and managing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Plant Foods
For instance, you can start eating more plant-based foods. These foods are good for your health since they contain low amounts of carbohydrates and they provide your body with just the right fat.
They are essential for enabling your body’s systems to repair themselves. They can also be helpful if you are suffering from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Foods that include plenty of vegetables, seeds, and nuts are also recommended and they will ensure that you have the right amounts of fats for your body systems. You will also eliminate excess fat in the liver when you have a diet that includes plenty of plants.
These foods are easier to manage, and preparing them is much easier. Sourcing the ingredients is cheaper and healthier for you. Plant foods are also known to have a lot of fiber and these are readily available in vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, rice, cereals, and bread.
Get Rid of Processed Grains
Processed grains are associated with metabolic syndromes in many people. They are also one of the causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. They do not have the fiber content required for the body and they lack many of the essential nutrients and minerals needed by various body systems.
They deprive the liver and other body systems of the vital nutrients they need to keep working normally. So, It usually leads to more complications for people suffering from non-alcohol fatty liver disease.
It is recommended that you eliminate any processed grains and other ultra-processed foods from your diet, if you suffer from non-alcohol fatty liver disease. Processed grains are also responsible for hypertension, low HDL, and hypertriglyceridemia.
When you remove Processed Grains from your diet, your body’s systems will be able to rest from the excessive processing of these foods.
Eliminate any Sugary Beverage or Soda, even the Diet Ones
Sugar-sweetened beverages are usually responsible for increased liver stiffness among many healthy adults and they are one of the leading causes of non-alcohol fatty liver disease.
Excessive consumption of sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit juices, and some tea and coffee drinks, leads to different health conditions. If you are looking to manage non-alcohol fatty liver disease, you should reduce your intake of sugary beverages and soda.
Even the diet alternatives are still considered to be bad for your liver and as such, you should reduce their intake. Sugary drinks contribute to the accumulation of excess fats in the liver, which leads to this condition.
When you reduce your intake of these drinks, you will allow your body to stop accumulating fats which it means that you are more likely to fight NAFLD.
Stop Cooking Foods with Any Oil
It would also be good if you stopped cooking food with oil. The use of oil in foods usually means that the foods you eat, no matter how healthy they are, they still contain a considerable amount of oil. When you change your cooking habit, you will be able to reverse the effect that the oils have on your liver.
Eliminating the use of cooking oil for your foods also means that you will have new cooking styles. As such, you will preserve the flavor in your nutrition, which means that you will be more healthy and your liver will thank you for it.
The elimination of cooking oil can also have other significant benefits for your liver, enabling you to recover. The accumulation of fats in your liver will also be reduced which means that you will have a better chance of recovery.
Limit Alcohol Consumption to a Minimum
Abstinence is the best way to make non-alcohol fatty liver disease reversible. It can also help reverse some of the early stages of the disease.
Any alcohol consumption is usually associated with the worsening of the underlying liver disease. It is recommended to limit your alcohol intake.
It is also good to reduce alcohol intake as this will enable the body to recover a lot faster. Going easy on your liver also means that some of the effects will be reversed.
Whether you have NAFLD or not, heavy alcohol consumption is discouraged as it brings harmful events to your liver. Any amount of alcohol usually places a processing load on your liver which means that limiting your intake can help with some of the non-alcohol fatty liver disease symptoms.
Watch your Portion Sizes
The amount of food you serve on your plate should also be manageable for your body systems to process.
When you watch the size of your portions, you will limit the load that your liver has to process. You will also be able to modify your consumption of fats in this way and as a result you will be healthier.
When you limit the amount of food per serving, your body’s systems will also thank you for the reduced processing load. They will work more efficiently as a result. It is also more appropriate to have smaller portion sizes as they are easier to eat in one sitting and you will have an easier time digesting the food.
Lifestyle changes are essential for dealing with non-alcohol fatty liver disease. It is not a condition that can be healed overnight. It requires drastic changes and modifications to your usual patterns and routines.
Stay Active As Much As Possible
Exercise and a bit of movement would also not hurt and significantly help with the non-alcohol fatty liver disease. When you are active, your body systems work more efficiently.
Your blood flows more efficiently within your body, and it helps to eliminate toxins from your liver more effectively. Staying active also increases your rate of metabolism which means that the excess fats in your body’s systems will be converted to energy, and your body will be more energetic.
You will also be more robust, and your immune system will be improved. Staying active also means that your liver will be more active and it will be pushing out the toxins at a steady rate.
Sleep More
When you sleep, you provide your body with a chance to repair and heal various systems. It can also regenerate some of the damaged and destroyed cells which means that your liver has greater chances of healing and repair when you are getting enough sleep.
The more sleep you get, the longer your body has to repair the body systems and as such, you will be able to recover more effectively without placing any strain or stress on your internal body systems.
Get enough hours of sleep so as to clear your mind and your liver of the toxins they have to deal with and you will wake up feeling more refreshed, energetic, and focused.
Meditate More
Meditating places your body into a state of calm and peace in addition to making your mind relax. When you meditate more, you are making yourself relaxed enough to divert your energies and resources to heal your liver.
Meditation also helps to clear your mind and it places you into a mental state where you can focus on the things that matter to you. Non-alcohol fatty liver disease can be better managed when you are not panicked but are calm and composed.
Note: Even with the recommendation and lifestyle changes that have been recommended in the previous sections, none of them beats a balanced diet.
There is simply no substitute for having a balanced diet and it is essential to work with your doctor to work on the best kind of diet for yourself.
When you have established the proper diet, you will control what gets processed by the liver and other internal systems. Subsequently, you will also ensure that your body is working efficiently. It will promote good health and a state of being that is both powerful and robust.
Conclusion
Non-alcohol fatty liver disease is a condition that is caused by the accumulation of excess fats in the liver.
They make it harder for the liver to get rid of toxins, leading to other serious health complications. There are several diet improvements and lifestyle changes that you can make to deal with the onset of the condition.
For instance, limiting your alcohol consumption and abstaining from processed foods can reduce the load on your liver. This means that you will recover much faster. Some of the condition symptoms can be easily reversed when you observe some protocols and codes.
Irreversible liver damage can be defended against by changing and improving your diet and lifestyle. Whenever you work on improving your overall fat consumption, you will deal much better with non-alcohol fatty liver disease.
You will also be able to deal with the condition when you use a ketogenic diet. The diet enables your body to burn off more fats which means that your liver will have a lower processing load and as such, it will not be overworked.
You can stay healthy and safe knowing that your body is not overwhelmed by an influx of toxins to process. Your liver may recover and may restore itself to normal when you follow the suggestions and recommendations provided above.
