Fatty liver is a disease that occurs when 5-10% of the liver mass is made up of fat. The disease can be caused by alcohol, but not only that. In any case, it can pose serious health risks if left untreated. Fortunately, fatty liver can be cured and healed.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Part 1: Diet and Lifestyle
Step 1. Lose weight
If you have fatty liver and are overweight or obese, losing weight gradually can help you to heal your liver and heal the damage it has suffered.
- The secret is to lose weight gradually. Aim for 450-900 grams per week. Losing more weight quickly can come with risks.
- Studies indicate that losing at least 9% of your weight over a few months can heal a fatty liver. Losing less weight may not cure the damage, but it will reduce the accumulation of fat in the liver, present and future.
- Lose weight by following a proper diet and exercising. Avoid weight loss supplements or fad diets.
Step 2. Exercise
Staying physically active can help you lose weight or maintain the right weight. Exercise also helps circulation, which improves the body's ability to burn fat. In addition, physical activity forces the body to use carbohydrates for energy, rather than converting them into fats.
- Light and moderate exercise is always better than nothing. If you're not used to physical activity, start with something simple, like walking for half an hour three to five times a week. Gradually increase the load until you can walk every day.
- Do cardiovascular exercises - activities that get the heart pumping, such as walking, cycling, and swimming - that are better than endurance exercises that focus on gaining muscle mass.
Step 3. Limit your consumption of sugars and carbohydrates
Insulin is a hormone that causes fat to accumulate, and consequently you must bring down the levels of insulin in your blood if you want to treat fatty liver. Simple sugars and refined carbohydrates raise blood insulin levels, so you need to avoid them.
- The body digests simple carbohydrates quickly, so after eating the blood sugar level rises. Complex carbohydrates are healthier because they take longer to assimilate and don't cause blood sugar levels to rise dramatically.
- In particular, this applies to foods made with white flour and to those foods rich in sugars. These foods are to be avoided, but you also need to avoid carbohydrates in general, even whole-grain ones.
- Limit your consumption of bread, pasta, rice, cereals, cakes, pastas, and snacks made with flour.
Step 4. Eat more vegetables
Vegetables are high in healthy complex carbohydrates, but in smaller doses than wheat, so they have little effect on blood sugar and insulin. Vegetables can also help cleanse the fats in the liver and strengthen the ability of this organ to filter out toxins.
- You can eat vegetables both cooked and raw, but avoid adding seasonings or other things that contain fat.
- To increase the dose of healthful foods, you could drink 2-3 glasses of vegetable juice per week. Each glass should be about 250-300ml and contain 90-95% vegetables. The rest of the drink may contain fruit rather than artificial sweeteners.
- Fresh fruit can help cleanse the liver, but you need to be careful when eating it, as fruit also contains high doses of sugar and can cause insulin problems.
Step 5. Eat more protein
Protein has no negative effect on blood sugar levels or insulin. In fact, they can help keep the sugar level stable. Protein also reduces hunger, which can help you eat less and lose weight.
Try to get protein through healthy foods, such as eggs, chicken, lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds, legumes, and light dairy products
Step 6. Eat healthy fats
You may think that a low-fat diet should cure fatty liver, but that's not totally true. You must avoid saturated fat in unhealthy foods, such as chips and pizza, but you must include unsaturated fats in your diet if you want a healthy and strong body.
Healthy or unsaturated fats are contained in: fish, olive oil, seed oil, nuts, seeds and eggs
Step 7. Avoid alcohol
Alcohol is one of the main causes of fatty liver. Even if your fatty liver isn't caused by alcohol, you still need to avoid it or limit your consumption.
- Alcohol causes inflammation and damages liver cells. As a result the liver weakens and causes fat cells to accumulate.
- Some unusual research conducted by the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine indicates that drinking a glass of wine a day can help diminish and even heal a fatty liver, not caused by alcohol. The risk of liver disease can even be halved. However, this only concerns wine, and not other types of alcohol. Beer and spirits increase the risk of further liver damage.
Step 8. Avoid unnecessary medicines
The liver is a filter and although many medicines have no effect on this organ, others can weaken or damage it. Avoiding these medicines can help you heal fatty liver.
Medicines known to have adverse effects on the liver include analgesics (aspirin, iboprufen, acetaminophen), antibiotics, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular medicines, hypoglycemic agents, contraceptives, sex hormone treatments, anti-neoplastic agents, anti-psychotics, anti-epileptics and medicines for tuberculosis
Method 2 of 3: Part 2: Natural Supplements
Step 1. Take Vitamin E
Take enough vitamin E supplements to get 800 IU daily.
A study by Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center indicated that vitamin E can lower liver enzymes that are believed to contribute to liver disease. This vitamin would also be able to heal liver scars
Step 2. Take fish oil capsules
Use 1000mg of Omega-3 supplements every day. Fish oil capsules contain fatty acids.
The British Medical Journal reported that this amount of Omega-3 can decrease those markers associated with damaged liver cells. It can also lower triglycerides, blood glucose levels and consequently the risk factors associated with fatty liver disease
Step 3. Try the milk thistle extract
Take milk thistle extract supplements daily or drink milk thistle tea. You can also combine 10 drops of extract with water.
Silymarin, found in sea thistle extracts, is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. Some research indicates that it can change liver function by reducing the production of cytokines, a substance released when the liver is inflamed. As a result, the liver can naturally heal more easily, and the accumulated fat will decrease
Step 4. Drink green tea
Drink 2-3 cups of green tea a day. If you don't like it, take 600mg green tea supplements daily.
- More specifically, you can find green tea extracts in catechin supplements, which comes from decaffeinated green tea.
- Some studies indicate that green tea and catechins derived from green tea can decrease the absorption and accumulation of fat by the intestine. They also encourage the oxidation of fatty acids, thus helping the body to use these acids as energy.
Step 5. Try probiotics
Take probiotic capsules daily. For a more natural approach, you can get probiotics from food that contains live organisms or ferments. Yogurt, for example, is a great food rich in probiotics.
Although there are no solid conclusions yet, some research indicates that consuming probiotics can counteract the effects of an unhealthy or unbalanced diet. Since fatty liver can be caused by a wrong diet, probiotics can help fight and heal the damage of a fatty liver
Method 3 of 3: Part 3: Medical Treatments
Step 1. Consult your doctor about certain diabetes medications
Fatty liver is often linked to diabetes, and some new research indicates that some diabetes medications may also have positive effects on fatty liver. In particular, metformin, rosiglitazone and pioglitazone.
- Metformin is an oral drug that controls blood sugar levels.
- Rosiglitazone and pioglitazone force the body's cells to become more sensitive to the insulin that the body produces. As a result, the body will produce less insulin and blood sugar levels will drop.
Step 2. Get to know the Orlistat
This drug is usually used to lose weight, but research is also considering it as a treatment for fatty liver. In fact, it blocks the absorption of some fats from food. As a result, less fat is absorbed by the liver and the rest of the body
Step 3. See your doctor for regular checkups
In particular, you should see a liver doctor. Together you can find treatments that are right for you and your doctor can clearly tell you what to avoid.
Step 4. Get treated for other related conditions
Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver often have other problems related to their insulin levels or the amount of fat accumulated in their body. Consult your doctor if you are at risk.
Diseases commonly associated with fatty liver include: diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
Warnings
- The advice in this article should only be used as a "first step". Before starting any type of treatment, consult your doctor. Always speak to a doctor to determine the right treatment for you.
- Experimental treatments are not recommended. The data regarding the effects of certain vitamins and supplements are limited, as is the data regarding the impact of certain diabetes medicines, and the like.
- If your liver damage is severe, you may not be able to cure fatty liver. A liver that is no longer working at an acceptable level must be removed and replaced with an organ transplant.
