Food to Eat and Avoid Fatty Liver

What is Fatty liver?

The liver is one of the important organs of our body, it is the very essential organ of our digestive system, without which survival of our being is not possible.

The weight of the liver is three pounds and it is normally the size of a football. As living with one kidney is possible, but without the proper functioning of the liver, survival is not possible.

The main role of the liver in our body is to detoxification of the blood and filters the impure blood it plays a role in the digestive system and in the metabolism of our body.

Metabolic processes of the body are handled by the liver like breaking down the substances indigestion, it removes the toxins from the body, extracting energy from the body, converting chemical energy to mechanical energy.

It is the storehouse of vitamins, minerals, and proteins and when our body needs these vitamins and minerals it releases them according to need.

There are two kinds of fatty livers

Alcoholic fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) Alcoholic fatty liver: Alcoholic fatty liver is caused by the excessive intake of liquor (alcohol).

Non-alcoholic fatty liver: If you have excessive fat in your liver due to which your liver gets inflamed and even you are not taking alcohol, it's the real symptom of NASH (non-alcoholic fatty liver), which leads to a serious liver condition known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or (NASH).

NASH is dangerous to the liver as it causes inflammation and damages liver cell it causes fat accumulation in liver cells. This leads to fibrosis or scar tissues which tend to make it die (liver cells).

It is dangerous because it can cause liver cancer. This condition is also known to be the main cause of other diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes in some conditions.

These conditions of the fatty and nonfatty liver can lead to many complications like a disease of Cirrhosis. To avoid this problem and treat fatty liver of both types we can treat it with a healthy diet.

Causes

The reason behind Fatty liver when excess fat is stored in the liver and the body does not metabolize fat fairly enough. Thus, excess fat gets stored in the cells of the liver where it causes fatty liver disease.

Many factors lead to fatty liver disease, drinking too much alcohol leads to fatty liver disease, this is alcohol-related fatty liver and in people who do not drink alcohol and even though they get this disease the reason is as follows

• High levels of fat in your blood (triglycerides)
• High blood sugar
• Obesity, resistance to insulin, rapid weight loss
• Pregnancy
• Exposure to certain toxins
• Infections like hepatitis C
• Medications like tamoxifen, amiodarone and valproic acid, methotrexate are some of the medications that can cause fatty liver in nonalcoholic fatty liver

Diagnosis of fatty liver: will take your medical history, conduct a physical exam, and can ask you for some more tests.

Blood tests: In blood tests ALT (Alanine aminotransferase test) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) Test to check enzymes in the liver.

If the level of the enzymes is elevated in the liver it shows the sign of liver inflammation. There may be some other signs of liver inflammation also besides elevated liver enzymes, that's why, if you are positive in tests of elevated liver enzymes, your physician may ask you for more additional tests to diagnose the real cause of the inflammation.

Tests like Ultrasound, MRI scans, and CT scans can be ordered by your doctor to diagnose the exact cause of the inflammation.

Liver biopsy test: To determines the problem of liver disease, a biopsy of the liver is considered as the best way to determine the severity of liver disease and scarring of the liver can be detected with this test.

Diet is the main component with which we can treat fatty liver as the name suggests fatty liver disease that means lots of fat in your liver. The liver helps to remove toxins and produces bile, the protein which helps in digestion.

To avoid this problem of fatty liver we should include the following diet in our daily food:

Vegetables to consume:

• Carrots, Radish
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Bottle gourd, Bitter gourd
• Round gourd, Ridge gourd
• Winter squash, Sweet potatoes
• Mustard Greens, cauliflower
• Dandelion Greens, Chicory

Vegetables to avoid

• Peppers
• Eggplant
• Vegetable juices
• Canned Vegetables

Fruits to Consume

• Apricots, Apples
• Oranges, Bananas, Berries
• Guava, Papaya
• Raspberries, watermelon, cherries
• Avocados, Grapes

Fruits to Avoid

• Citrus fruit

Spice To Consume:

• Thyme, Coriander
• Cumin, Pepper
• Cinnamon, Oregano
• Ginger, Turmeric

Spice to Avoid

The use of Table Salt is prohibited in the case of fatty liver.

Non-veg food to Consume

• Meat only in small portions

Non-veg food, Food To Avoid

• Chicken
• Canned and smoked fish
• Red meat

Other food products to consume

• Green Tea, Flaxseeds
• Low-fat milk, brown bread
• Brown rice, Buckwheat
• Eggs, Millet
• Quinoa, Olive oil
• Cottage Cheese, Whole wheat pasta
• Tofu, Oats, Kidney beans

Products to avoid

• Fried food, Alcohol
• Junk food, Chips
• Cakes, Pastries, Pizza
• Butter, High-fat food
• Non-vegan, high-fat milk
• Chocolate, Sweets, Soda
• Processed sugar, Pies
• Frozen food, Soy sauce
• Lasagna, Bacon
• Butter, Spicy food

In this article, we try to explain what fatty liver is, the causes of fatty liver, the symptoms of fatty liver, how to diagnose fatty liver.

The foods, vegetables, and other eatables what to consume and what to avoid in our daily diet.