5 Foods to Eat When Diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease
(#5 May Surprise You)
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) has been called the Silent Epidemic. More than 100 Million Americans have it and may not even know it. Because symptoms usually do not appear immediately, it sometimes takes years before a person is diagnosed with NAFLD and then it may be too late to reverse it.
Typically, developing NAFLD occurs as the result of a lifetime of poor eating habits and with the comorbidities of diabetes, insulin resistance, overweight/obesity or metabolic syndrome. But this is not always the case. People with increased waist circumference (fat around the waist) but lean elsewhere, may also be at risk. The risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.
So, how do I know that I have a fatty liver? Here are some symptoms to look for:
Abdominal pain or a feeling of fullness in the upper right side of the abdomen (your belly)
Nausea
Loss of appetite or weight loss
Always fatigued
Itchy skin
If you are experiencing the above symptoms, make an appointment with a gastroenterologist or hepatologist to get an abdominal ultrasound.
So far, no pharmacological treatment has been approved for treatment of NAFLD. Diet and exercise as a lifestyle modification treatment is recommended by physicians to get the fat out of the liver and improve liver function. Most people are shocked and scared when they receive the diagnosis of liver disease. And it’s hard not to be, since your liver is one of your hardest working organs in your body. But your liver is very forgiving if you start to show it some love and take care of it. If you are in the early stages of NAFLD: fatty liver disease and NASH (Non-Alcoholic Steato Hepatitis) you can slow down the progression and even reverse NAFLD. Besides cutting out sugary drinks and alcohol, fatty foods and highly processed foods, start by adding these 5 food groups to your diet. You liver will love you for it.
- Dark green leafy vegetables: arugula, chicory, collard & mustard greens, dandelion, endive, kale, spinach, swiss chard. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy and cabbage.
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids: these fats are called essential because our body cannot make them. There are 3 types of Omega-3 fatty acids: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) & Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). EPA & DHA are animal-based sources and ALA is a plant-based source. Fatty fish is the best source of Omega-3s EPA and DHA.
“ The American Heart Association recommends 1000 milligrams of EPA+DHA per day for patients with coronary heart disease, and two meals of oily fish per week for people without heart disease”.
Per 3.5 ounce serving (100 grams) cooked, contain both EPA and DHA:
- salmon: 1000 -1800 mg with farm-raised salmon containing more
- tuna (blue fin): 1200 mg
- canned white albacore tuna: 500 -1000 mg depending on type of tuna
- herring: 1300–2000 mg
- lake trout: 1500 -2000 mg
- mackerel: 2500 – 3000 mg
- sardines (canned): 1500 mg
- anchovies: 1000 mg per 3 oz serving
Other marine sources include algal oils. Algal oil is an oil made from certain marine algae.
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) plant source of Omega-3s for a 1 ounce serving (28 grams):
- chia seeds: ~ 5000 mg
- walnuts: 2500 mg
- flaxseeds: 2300 mg
- hemp seeds: 6000 mg
3. Omega-9 Fatty Acids. Although it’s not an essential fatty acid like Omega- 3 & Omega-6 (because our body can make it), Omega-9 oleic acid has been shown in studies to increase good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease bad cholesterol (LDL)levels. https://fehv.org/en/olive-oil-fatty-liver/
Olive oil is rich in omega-9 fatty acids, primarily as oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). Most of us have heard how olive oil is good for the heart and is the main fat consumed in the Mediterraean diet. However, there are also benefits for the liver. Olive oil has been found to reduce the fat in the liver by increasing fatty acid oxidation. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670406/
“An olive oil-rich diet decreases accumulation of TGs in the liver, improves postprandial TGs, glucose and glucagon-like peptide-1 responses in insulin-resistant subjects, and upregulates glucose transporter-2 expression in the liver”.
Eat a combination of all the Omegas: 3,6* & 9 by combining different food items. For example if you sauté salmon in olive oil or if you add nuts or seeds to your salad, you get an Omega power punch.
Here are the amounts of omega-9s in 100 grams of the following foods:
- olive oil: 83 grams
- cashew nut oil: 73 grams
- almond oil: 70 grams
- avocado oil: 60 grams
- peanut oil: 47 grams
- almonds: 30 grams
- cashews: 24 grams
- walnuts: 9 grams
4. Vitamin E Foods. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that has been shown in studies to reduce oxidative stress in NAFLD. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5789322/
“Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction were proposed as main triggers for the progression of steatosis to steatohepatitis.
Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin and the best way to get the daily requirement is by eating foods containing vitamin E rather than taking supplements. Too much vitamin E in the form of supplements may increase the risk of bleeding in the brain. So much better and safer to get from foods. The recommended daily amount of vitamin E for adults is 15 milligrams a day. Vitamin E is found in the following foods:
- Wheat Germ/Wheat Germ Oil
- Nuts (such as almonds, peanuts, and hazelnuts/filberts)
- Green leafy vegetables (such as spinach and broccoli)
- Sunflower, safflower, and soybean oil
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Beet greens, collard greens, spinach
- Red bell pepper
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Mango
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-e/
5. Coffee. We are not talking your White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino or Venti Creme Brulee Latte, which are loaded with sugar. No, we are talking a cup or four of steamy black “Joe” without sugar and maybe a splash of milk. Yes, I know coffee is good for you one day and bad for you another. But for the liver it is another story. Coffee is rich in antioxidants and also appears to reduce inflammation in the liver. It also increases the level of an antioxidant that your body naturally produces (called glutathione). So, have another cup of Joe.
However, “when your body digests caffeine, it makes a chemical called paraxanthine that slows the growth of the scar tissue involved in fibrosis. That may help fight liver cancer, alcohol-related cirrhosis, non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease, and hepatitis C.”
It does appear that coffee, and particular components other than caffeine, reduce NAFLD prevalence and inflammation of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Several possible mechanisms underlying coffee’s hepatoprotective effects in NAFLD include antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic effects, while a chemopreventive effect against hepatocarcinogenesis seems likely.
So there you have it, five foods that benefit your liver, help reduce the fat in your liver, decrease oxidative stress in NAFLD and slow the growth of scar tissue that occurs in fibrosis of the liver. Start adding these foods today and your liver will thank you for it.
- You may wonder why I did not include the Omega-6 fatty acids. Although Omega-6 fats have heart health benefits, Americans tend to consume more Omega-6 fatty acids (10 times more than Omega-3) due to it’s high usage in processed foods (soybean oil is found in all types of processed foods). However, good natural sources of Omega-6 fatty acids include pumpkin seeds, sunflower and walnuts and should be included in our diet.
