Low carbs fight fatty liver disease
DEAR DOCTOR: I was recently diagnosed with fatty liver. Although I’ve been considered slim my whole life, for the last eight or nine years I’ve looked about six months pregnant. Please tell me how I can reverse this and quit wearing maternity clothes.
DEAR READER: The issue you’re having with fatty liver is shared by a large percentage of Americans. To understand how this happened, and why the rates of diabetes, obesity and fatty liver have increased over the last 40 years, just visit a supermarket. There you’ll find aisle after aisle of high-carbohydrate, high-sugar processed foods.
High-sugar foods such as cookies, candies, cakes, ice cream, sodas and juices raise both insulin and triglyceride levels. So do highly refined carbohydrates such as crackers, potato chips, low-fiber breads, rice and pasta. All these foods are easily converted to fat in the body and, when there’s too much fat, it starts to build up in the liver. That can cause an inflammatory reaction that leads to scarring.
You can try to reverse the condition — and your weight gain — by reducing the amount of sugars and carbohydrates you consume.
A review of four studies published last year in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences found that reducing the amount of dietary carbohydrates to 50 percent or less of total calorie intake successfully led to a decrease in liver fat content. In other words, the type of calories — not just total calories — that you consume matters.
To change your diet, start with sugar — eliminate high-sugar foods from your diet completely. That means no dessert, no sodas, no juices. Also, reduce carbohydrates that are low in fiber. They can create many of the same problems found with high-sugar foods.
And last but not least, start an exercise regimen — or ramp up the one you have. It will help you work off extra calories, while also helping you control your body’s ability to control glucose levels.
Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o Media Relations, UCLA Health, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90095.