Having a fatty liver means you have double the risk of dying
By naturopath Margaret Jasinska
A recent study showed that people with a fatty liver have almost twice the mortality rate of the general population. They are more likely to die from both liver diseases and common diseases like cancer and heart disease. The study was done at Karolinska Institutet Sweden and published in The Journal of Hepatology.
Around the world approximately one in four people have a fatty liver. It causes an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver, which can lead to liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.
A lot of people aren’t aware they have a fatty liver because it rarely causes any symptoms in the early stages. According to study author Dr Axel Wester, “Our study shows that people diagnosed with fatty liver have an increased risk of dying from many different diseases, not just liver disease.”
The overall mortality rate for people with fatty liver was almost twice as high.
Interestingly, the most common causes of death were cardiovascular disease and cancer. Mortality rates were 54 and 47 per cent higher, respectively. The cancer was in other parts of the body, not the liver. People with a fatty liver also had an increased risk of dying from infections, digestive diseases, respiratory diseases and hormonal diseases.
Most people with a fatty liver probably don’t know it’s raising their risk of a heart attack, regardless of their cholesterol level. It also increases the risk of the types of cancer Australians die from each day: colon, prostate, breast and uterine.
Why does fatty liver raise the risk of death?
Fatty liver usually occurs due to insulin resistance. Higher levels of insulin and glucose in the blood increases overall inflammation. The liver produces too much glucose, unhealthy fats, inflammatory cytokines and enzymes that can degrade collagen throughout your body. The toxic substances released by a fatty liver enter other organs and trigger inflammation and tissue damage.
Many doctors dismiss fatty liver as a trivial condition and overly focus on a patient’s cholesterol. They tell their patients to eat less and exercise more and not worry about a fatty liver. I take fatty liver seriously, because it increases the risk of serious diseases, plus it can make you feel unwell, tired and miserable. Your liver is the key to a healthy metabolism. If it is unhealthy you will likely feel tired, not be able to lose weight, and your liver will not cleanse your bloodstream efficiently. A fatty liver can lead to poor mental health, which causes low motivation for self care.
How to help your liver and protect your future health
Minimise sugar, carbohydrate and most vegetable oils in your diet.
These foods are what creates a fatty liver in the first place. Most people with a fatty liver got one because they ate more carbohydrate than their liver could process. Carbohydrate rich foods include sugar, flour, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals, cookies, granola and grains. The liver is very proficient at converting these foods into fat. The other food that promotes the formation of a fatty liver is omega 6 rich vegetable oil. Fried foods and packaged foods like crisps, chips, crackers and cookies are usually full of the wrong fats. Avoid foods that contain the following oils: canola (rapeseed), cottonseed, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, sesame and peanut oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are healthy fats. Animal fats are also healthy.
Base your diet on vegetables, protein and healthy fats.
These foods will keep you feeling full and will keep your blood sugar level stable throughout the day. This is very important in order to prevent hypoglycaemia, sugar cravings, foggy head and fatigue. Many people trying to lose weight actually don’t eat enough protein and fat, particularly women. They are in such a rush to lose weight and want to reach their goal tomorrow, that they eat too little food. This is dangerous territory because you will be at far greater risk of binging on all the wrong foods once you get tired and hungry enough.
When eating protein rich foods like fish, poultry or red meat, please eat a palm and a half sized portion. Please include good fats in your diet like olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and oily fish such as salmon. People who don’t eat enough protein and fat usually crave sugar and carbohydrate. There is an easy to follow eating plan in the book Fatty Liver: You Can Reverse It.
Find out if you have insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is becoming increasingly common and approximately half of the people who have it don’t realise because they haven’t been diagnosed yet. See your doctor and ask for a fasting blood glucose test to check if you have diabetes. Insulin resistance is even more common. If you have a large waist, then you have some degree of insulin resistance. If you have a more advanced case of insulin resistance, you have high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, low good cholesterol (HDL) and high bad cholesterol (LDL). Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance make weight loss even more difficult because of the elevated blood insulin which is a feature of these conditions.
Eat plenty of fresh vegetables.
Try to eat as many different coloured vegetables as possible because the pigments in vegetables are antioxidants and they each have unique benefits. Your liver and bowels need the nutrients in vegetables to function at their optimum. It is well worth adding raw juices to your diet, see the book Raw Juices Can Save Your Life for recipe ideas.
If you haven’t been motivated to eat well recently, doing the Dr Cabot 15 Day Cleanse can help get you back on track. It is a program to help improve the health of your liver, gut and immune system.
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