What you consume influences the health of your liver. For instance, unhealthy lifestyle choices contribute to the lion’s share of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) cases. NAFLD is the most common liver condition in the U.S. Anyone can develop liver disease. Modifying your diet will help you eat your way to a healthier liver.
How Food Affects the Liver
The most common form of chronic liver disease is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD. It develops when too much fat is stored in the liver. NAFLD can lead to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a more aggressive form of NAFLD. NASH causes liver inflammation and scarring. It can progress to irreversible scarring, cirrhosis, and liver failure. The top risk factors for NAFLD and NASH are:
- Obesity
- Eating an unhealthy diet high in carbs, added sugars, and saturated fats
- Lack of physical activity
- Diabetes
If you consume more fat than your body can use, the excess gets stored in your liver. Eventually, the amount of fat can overwhelm your liver and trigger your immune system to heal it. If changes aren’t made to reduce the amount of fat stored in the liver, the healing response will begin to scar the liver. The damage is progressive and, over time, replaces healthy tissue with non-functioning scar tissue until liver failure occurs.
Prevention and Progression Through Diet
The liver can regenerate itself, even with moderate scarring, if it is caught and treated in time. Making healthier choices significantly influences preventing fatty liver disease for those at risk and stopping, reversing, and slowing progression in patients. Some simple suggestions to help get you started include:
- Nutrition– Eat a well-balanced diet low in carbohydrates and avoid refined sugars and saturated fats.
- Physical Activity– Incorporating 20–30 minutes of physician activity 3-5 days a week.
- Weight– If you are overweight, losing at least 7% of your total body weight can begin to reduce inflammation due to liver fat.
- Chronic Conditions– Managing your chronic conditions, such as diabetes, prevents them from worsening and causing additional strain and damage to your liver.
The First Treatments for NASH are Coming
In addition to making healthier lifestyle changes, scientists and researchers are working on better managing NASH and improving patients’ lives. While there are no FDA-approved therapies to treat NASH currently, potential new options are being evaluated in clinical research studies. If you have NASH or are at risk for developing it, participating in research studies is a way you can play a unique role in making the first disease-specific therapies available to patients.
You can view more details on our enrolling NASH studies and apply directly from our website by clicking here. Or call us today at (941) 896-4948 for more information.
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