Fatty Liver – What Your Doctor Does Not Know

In my medical clinic, the most common problem we see today is fatty liver. These patients are usually overweight and have tried many diets that do not work. Why is this? It is because the hormones that regulate metabolism and hunger are out of balance and in particular, we find that they have high levels of insulin and leptin. Their fat cells and liver are programmed to store fat by these high levels of hormones. If you have a fatty liver you will find it very hard to lose weight unless you improve your liver first and get these hormones under control. You will be far more likely to become a type 2 diabetic if you have a fatty liver.

Fatty liver is also known as NASH, which stands for Non-Alcoholic Steatorrhoeic Hepatosis or Non-Alcoholic-Fatty-Liver-Disease (NAFLD) but don’t be put off by these medical labels – they just mean that your liver is being invaded with fat!

A fatty liver contains an excessive amount of fat which replaces the normal healthy liver tissue; thus the liver function becomes compromised. The liver cells and the spaces in the liver are replaced with fat. In many cases the liver becomes slightly enlarged and has a yellow greasy appearance.

If the liver spaces and liver cells are full of fat, then the liver is not able to filter and cleanse the bloodstream efficiently; in such cases toxins accumulate in the bloodstream. This leads to an overloaded immune system and inflammation starts to occur in the body.

Recently I saw four patients with four different problems:

One had brain inflammation evident on her MRI brain scan and was prediabetic
One had a neuro-degenerative disease called motor neurone disease
One had painful fibromyalgia and a mood disorder
One had heavy painful periods and oestrogen dominance

I found that each of these patients had a moderately severe fatty liver and they were all overweight. Interestingly no other doctor had pointed this out to them as they did not think it was significant in the cause of their symptoms.

In reality the liver is always important and if you have a fatty liver, many different types of diseases and symptoms can occur earlier in your life. You will not overcome your health problems if you have a fatty unhealthy liver.

They are often told the following by their doctor:

It is not serious, so do not worry about it
There is nothing you can do about it
There is no drug to fix it, so there is no treatment
It is a normal part of ageing
It does not cause other diseases or problems
These days just about everyone has a fatty liver, so it is normal

However, most people with a fatty liver want to do something about it because they have seen the research that fatty liver can be associated with health problems such as diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, severe fatigue, gallstones and weight excess.

The vast majority of overweight people I see have a fatty liver and this makes it much harder for them to lose weight. Why is this? Well there are several reasons:

Their insulin levels are too high – insulin is a fat storing hormone and makes you hungrier, especially for foods high in carbohydrate
Their leptin levels are too high – this means the hunger centre in the brain does not respond to the correct signals
There is less room in the liver to store glycogen – this means blood sugar levels become unstable, and when they drop the cravings for high carbohydrate foods will be intense.
The fatty liver does not convert thyroid hormone to its active form efficiently – the active form speeds up the metabolic rate
Toxins build up in the fat tissue and liver which slows down metabolism

Can a fatty liver be reversed?

There is much that can be done through diet and lifestyle to reverse a fatty liver, although this process usually takes between six to 12 months. Sugar and carbohydrate rich foods such as grains, bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits, donuts, muffins, refined and processed cereals and packaged snack foods such as pretzels, chips and crackers must be eliminated.

The diet needs to be based on plenty of vegetables along with protein such as seafood, poultry, eggs, cheese, plain yogurt and meat (preferably grass-fed). Fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes and healthy fats should also be included in the diet.

To support your liver function, we recommend Livatone Plus which has a proven track record over 25 years as a liver protector and restorer. This means it helps liver cells to repair themselves and this hastens the reversal of fatty liver. Livatone Plus also improves the fat burning functions of the liver. The herb berberine has also been shown to reduce high insulin levels and fatty liver and is available in capsules.

The liver is the general of the army of the body

Your liver is the largest and hardest working organ in your body! It performs thousands of functions every minute of every day to keep you alive. It is not normal to have a fatty liver and it is important to reverse it. You will see huge improvements in your health within several months as the liver responds quickly to nutritional medicine.