Health and Fitness
The Truth About Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
It looks like too much food, particularly sugar, can fatten the liver. Here is what science says.
According to WHO, “obesity is one of today’s most blatantly visible — yet most neglected — public health problems. Obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Almost two billion people are overweight.”
Introduction and Context
Our health is precious for life satisfaction. The liver plays a significant role in maintaining good health. If the liver gets sick, the entire body suffers. Fatty liver is a common disease.
There are two types of fatty liver disease. Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is caused by excessive alcohol consumption, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), aka non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is believed to cause by too many calories.
According to UCLA Health:
“NAFLD/NASH is the most common liver disorder in industrialized countries. In the United States, the prevalence of fatty liver disease ranges from 10–46%, and liver biopsy-based studies report a prevalence of NASH of 1–17%. Systematic reviews suggest NAFLD prevalence in adults is probably 25–33%, while NASH prevalence is 2–5%. Thus, the natural history remains poorly understood, and the influence of an individual’s genetic composition remains to be determined.”
As documented in a paper titled Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Evolving paradigms in the World Journal of Gastroenterol:
“NAFLD is a pandemic disease worldwide, which has been paralleling the ongoing epidemics of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of NAFLD approaches 25%-30% in the Europe and United States general populations, but this figure surges to 80%-90% in selected cohorts of the dysmetabolic individual.”
This paper points out that:
“Patients with NAFLD have an increased risk of premature cardiovascular as well as of liver-related mortality. Of concern, up to 50% of cases, NAFLD-HCC may occur in the absence of cirrhosis, a circumstance which will often worsen the outcome.”
In this story, I briefly introduce the symptoms and major causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Then, related to root causes, I share my experience with sugar consumption and provide references based on my review of this health condition.
Symptoms of NAFLD
By reviewing several scientific papers in the field, interestingly, NAFLD might not show noticeable symptoms.
However, the most mentioned symptoms are fatigue, lethargy, and overall body weakness.
Several papers also mention a few common symptoms, such as itchy skin, abdominal pain, swelling of the abdominal area and legs, confusion, yellow skin, and enlargement of breasts in men.
Causes of NAFLD
Several studies indicate that obesity, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and increased triglycerides in the bloodstream can be the root causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Interestingly, all these causes relate to metabolic syndrome, which I mentioned in this article titled “Fix Metabolic Syndrome, Live a Longer and Healthier Life: Metabolic inflexibility underlies major health issues.”
As mentioned in the previous article, metabolic syndrome also causes other suggestive diseases such as diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and even cancer.
Many papers related to NAFLD mention that excessive calories turning into fat cells are the primary root causes of this debilitating disease.
It is like a vicious circle.
Consumption of too many carbohydrates increases blood sugar. Too much blood sugar releases excessive insulin, and the constant release of insulin causes insulin resistance. And insulin resistance causes type 2 diabetes and obesity. Consequently, obesity causes metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The pattern gets so apparent.
This vicious circle is triggered by too much glucose in the bloodstream.
The liver is the second largest organ. It is the cleanser of the body. Every waste material goes through the liver. The liver is also the busiest organ metabolizing sugar and storing it as glycogen.
Glycogen is the stored form of glucose. It consists of connected glucose molecules. So when the body cannot use glucose as energy, it first keeps it in the liver, then insulin signals other organs and muscle tissues to use energy.
When too much glucose cannot be stored by the liver and cannot be used by other organs, as a last resort, the body turns the glucose to fat molecules known as triglycerides.
If we are active and don’t have much glucose in the bloodstream, our hormones can release triglycerides as an energy source. This is a desirable situation for losing fat.
However, if we are not active and the body has too much glucose, these molecules keep converting to triglycerides, and we experience hypertriglyceridemia. This is an undesirable situation causing fat gain.
Unfortunately, hyper-triglyceridemia can harden and even thicken artery walls. This condition is known as arteriosclerosis and increases the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases.
Moreover, too many triglycerides may also cause inflammation of the pancreas.
Excessive triglycerides are one of the root causes of obesity which is a pandemic. According to World Health Organization:
“Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Thirty-nine million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2020. Most of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.”
The sad truth “Since the Harvard sugar study, the estimation is that 158 million deaths occurred in the US.”
My experience with excessive blood glucose
Carbohydrates creating blood glucose caused me many griefs in my youth.
I shared my historical health conditions in a recent article titled 12 Entangled Health Conditions I Owned & Fixed By Myself: How I transformed my problematic health and fitness situations by methodical trials & errors.
As mentioned in that meta article, most of my health conditions are triggered and caused by excessive carbohydrates converting to blood glucose and triglycerides.
Thus, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and leptin resistance were root causes of multiple conditions. Sentimentally said, sugar was killing me, but I found smart ways to beat it.
I don’t want to go into details and overwhelm my readers as I covered my conditions, experiments, and solutions in multiple articles, as attached below. You may choose relevant articles that may be an interest to you.
However, I want to point out that my striking solution was reducing carbohydrates and increasing healthy fats as a primary energy source.
The main difference in using fat as the primary source of energy is its little impact on insulin release. In addition, healthy fats maintained satiety and provided a better hormonal balance.
This simple switch from sugar to healthy fats for energy requirements helped me resolve my conditions’ underlying causes and dramatically reduce their symptoms.
Conclusions
Food is essential for our survival. However, too much food, like anything else, can cause problems. Consuming nutrient-dense foods in moderation seems to be a wise approach to health.
The primary cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with consuming excessive food, especially in carbohydrateThank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
Petechiae, ALS, Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Thyroid Disorders, Anemia, Dysautonomia, cardiac output, and urinary track disorders.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients.
Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.
As part of my creative non-fiction writing goals, I’d like to share a few stories that might warm our hearts with a bit of humor into weighty topics.
Sample Humorous Stories
Finally, After Burning Her House, Georgia Found Enlightenment
Hilarious Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Keep the Gray Matter Giggling
8 Psychological Points I Had to Unlearn and Relearn the Opposite
Based on my writing experience and observations, I documented findings and strategies that might help you amplify your voice, engage your audience, and achieve your desired outcomes in your writing journey.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on cellular, mitochondrial, metabolic, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 22K writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.
As a writer, blogger, content developer, and reader, you might join Medium, Vocal Media, NewsBreak, Medium Writing Superstars, Writing Paychecks, WordPress, Cliqly, and Thinkers360 with my referral links. These affiliate links will not cost you extra to join the services.
form.
We are all unique and experience various situations and solve them using different methods.
However, learning from the body of knowledge and experiences of other people can give us valuable perspectives to customize our solutions.
In the attached story, I briefly introduce the inspiring experience of a mature adult who successfully reversed his fatty liver disease with healthy lifestyle changes and support from his family doctor and specialists.
