Eureka Moment #5

TREATING FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Having fatty liver disease greatly increases one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but a combination of alternate-day fasting and exercise may reduce that risk.

THE OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to see if alternate-day fasting combined with exercise could help treat fatty liver disease.

THE EXPERIMENT: We randomly assigned participants with obesity and fatty liver disease to one of four groups for this threemonth study. The first group did alternate-day fasting alone by consuming 600 calories on fasting days, which alternated with a day of normal eating in between. The second group was the exercise group, which had to complete 60 minutes of aerobic exercise (jogging or cycling) for five days a week. The third group did alternate-day fasting and the exercise regimen, while the final control group changed nothing.

RESULTS: We found that the group that combined alternate- day fasting with exercise significantly decreased liver fat by 6 per cent and improved liver enzyme profile over the three months. They also lost 5 per cent body fat while maintaining muscle mass. In addition, insulin sensitivity increased, which suggests that the risk of developing diabetes was lowered.

Eureka! These findings show that combining exercise with IF is not just great for treating fatty liver disease; it also shows that fasting doesn’t mean muscle loss.

The group that combined alternate-day fasting with exercise significantly decreased liver fat and improved liver enzyme profile over the three months.