Keto Diet for Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease [1] is a disorder in which the liver is blocked by excess fat due to increased triglycerides in the body. Fatty liver damage is closely associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and prediabetes resistance. If the fat contained in the liver is greater than 10% of the weight of the liver, its function is impaired, and insulin and fine-tune blood sugar cannot be metabolized in the liver as it usually is. Keto diet and Fatty Liver [2, 3] have been interconnected as some people believed that it causes and some believed it cures the disease. In this article we will find out the myths and truth about keto diet fatty liver disease.

This type of liver disease is referred to as NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) or hepatic steatosis and can lead to liver damage or liver cancer if left untreated. [4] However, low-carb and keto diet are known to be effective methods to treat fatty liver disease. Despite the safety concerns associated with a fatty liver, the Keto diet (KD), with its significant carbohydrates reduction, is now a popular weight loss approach.

Causes of Fatty Liver

Some people get the disease without pre-existing conditions. However, these risk factors make it more likely to develop:

• Being overweight and excess body fat.
• Poor Diet
• Having Type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance
• Possessing metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels).
• Taking such prescription drugs as amiodarone (Cordarone), tamoxifen (Nolvadex), diltiazem (Cardizem), or steroids.

Can Keto Diet Cause NAFLD?

There is a myth [5] that the keto diet can cause NAFLD, but this is absolutely wrong, and we will explain why. When people start NAFLD, they start using oils and other oil-based products in order to consume maximum fat. Soy oil and Corn oil are the ones that cause problems as they are more dangerous than fructose.

When people consume these oils frequently, the problem begins to begin, leading to a complete disease. The only reason people get Nafld while on Keto is that they are doing it wrong. This variant of the keto diet is called dirty Keto, which is not suggested for patients with obesity.

A low-carbohydrate diet is recommended to patients with obesity to control their weight in order to recover from hepatic steatosis.

Symptoms of Fatty Liver

There are often no signs in people with the fatty disease until the disease progresses to liver cirrhosis. They can include if you have symptoms:

1. Abdominal pain or a sensation of fullness in the abdomen’s upper right hand (belly).
2. Nausea, appetite loss, or loss of weight.
3. Yellowish skin, white eyes (jaundice).
4. Inflamed stomach and legs (edema).
5. Extreme exhaustion or mental confusion.
6. Weakness

Is there any way to reverse Fatty Liver Disease?

You can make the liver burn the stored fat and reverse liver disease if you change your lifestyle. A significant risk factor for NAFLD is weight gain. On the other hand, weight loss is one of the best things you can do to boost general liver function and NAFLD. This relates mainly to obesity or type two diabetes.

However, the answer might not be weight loss alone. Studies show that it’s not about losing extra pounds, but how you lose them is a significant concern. Diet and lifestyle factors such as exercise and preventing the high fructose intake through maize syrup are very influential in the general chance that fatty liver is reversed.

And a diet that optimizes your intestinal microbiome is essential for the overall metabolic health and common conditions associated with NAFLD, such as diabetes and heart disease. In our case, Keto is the best diet that can be followed to reverse NAFLD, and we will prove why.

Are Keto Diets beneficial for Fatty Liver?

Since obesity is a significant cause of NAFLD, weight loss facilitates its management. Ketogenic, low-carb diets have recently become increasingly popular in obesity, Type 2, and NAFLD treatment. While long-term data comparing different weight-loss regimens in NAFLD are virtually nonexistent, a low-carbohydrate, low-carb, or keto diet has been reported to induce a threefold greater result than any other diet available.

If you are planning to adopt Keto, then as a caution, it is suggested to talk to your doctor about some medical problems with the changes in Diet and lifestyle!

Your doctor probably has advised some diet and lifestyle changes to help you reverse NAFLD. Usually, doctors suggest to:

• Lose weight if you are obese
• Make a habit of daily exercise
• Increase Coffee dietary intake
• Use supplements for vitamin E

Since the keto diet can improve any of those, as mentioned earlier, you can do this if you’re able to try it.

Keto diets are a perfect way to lose weight if the consumption of nutrients is low day-by-day, and you just have to follow a simple rule: low carbohydrates, high fat, and moderate protein. If you follow this formula, you’ll definitely recover from many diseases.

How can Keto Diet Cure Fatty Liver?

The studies found that rapid weight loss contributes to a significant change in the disease in studies on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease treatments. Three percent-5 percent weight loss improves fatty liver disease, but a weight loss of 10 percent may be required to minimize inflammation and liver health damage. Researchers used the most well-known approach to facilitate weight loss to do this:

By following a low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (Keto) and exercise. Physical exercise alone improves the sensitivity of insulin and decreases excess liver fat.

Since our main problem is the fat stored in the liver, we have to cure that. In order to do so, studies suggest low-carbohydrate, ketogenic Diet to controls weights in patients with obesity. KD not only helps to reduce overall body weight, in some cases, it has been observed that the overall weights of the body had not been decreased, but Liver fat content had been dropped significantly. Thus, for patients with obesity, the keto diet is considered one of the best remedies. The first thing to do is the treatment of obesity.

It’s so easy, eat less and move around, and the disease risk may be reversed. Several researchers on non-alcoholic disease therapies often agree on this simple principle, but they do not agree on what sort of exercise to do.

A pilot study has been performed on various forms of exercise and their effects on chronic liver disease, but not enough knowledge is available to draw a firm conclusion as to what is best. We do, however, know what’s more comfortable than doing the workout that you’re really supposed to do. So the best knowledge we have so far is that the keto diet and fatty liver are related, and Keto can cure this disease.

Fats and Fatty Liver

Fats play an important role in increasing or decreasing NAFLD, there are myths that consuming fats will increase your fatty liver condition. Which is not true, there are actually two types of fats, the good fats and the bad fats and we will explain how these play an important role in this condition.

Good Fats for NAFLD

There are three types of good fats that can reverse a fatty liver.

1. Olive Oil
2. Omega 3 Fish Oil
3. Coconut Oil (Virgin)

These three oils are proven by studies to aid reversal of Fatty Liver Disease.

Bad Fats for NAFLD

All types of vegetable oils canola oil, Crisco and shortenings are the types of oils which must be avoided to cure fatty liver. These oils cause oxidation and inflammation in the liver that can be very dangerous for such condition.

1. Soya Bean Oil
2. Canola Oil
3. Corn Oil

Be careful with these oils as they can cause a fatty liver disease.

Best Foods for the body with fatty liver

Besides a keto diet, several foods are available that help with NAFLD:

Fatty fish

A meta-analysis showed that both NAFLD and NASH increased omega-3s while triglycerides in the blood decreased. From salmon, sardines, anchovies, and other fatty Coldwater fish, you can get tons of omega-3s, or you can take a supplement of fish oil or krill oil.

Walnuts

Walnuts have improved liver function monitoring and shown therapeutic potential for NAFLD patients. They reduce both fat and inflammation.

Green tea

Green tea catechins can help reduce oxidative stress and boost liver fat and inflammation.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the best products that can heal a fatty liver. It consists of Acetic acid which boosts up the metabolic system and helps burning fat from all over the body. Not only that, it helps you release bile from your liver and burns fat.

Coffee

Every morning, drinking coffee lowers the risk of NAFLD and decreases the intensity of NASH.

Foods to Avoid with Fatty Liver

You may think the biggest perpetrator of NAFLD is “fat,” but sugar and carbohydrates are, in fact, involved. While saturated fat for optimal health and weight loss is necessary to use, reducing carb intake can ensure your condition’s most significant improvement.

Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the most important things to stop if you have NAFLD. Alcohol does not only cause inflammation of the fatty liver but can make an existing condition even worse.

Sugar

All sugar should be minimized, including naturally derived sugars like fruit juice and honey.

Carbohydrates

Say no to all types of carbs. Carbs like white bread and pasta which are used in our daily routine should be avoided, and alternatives such as almond flour can be used. Try to keep the intake of sodium below 1500 milligrams per day. Too much salt will make you hold on to the weight of the water.

To know more if our body needs carbs or not, you can visit this article to learn about it in detail.

Carbs after ketosis

Fried foods

Fried foods are high in fat and sugar, such as French fries, popcorn, chicken wings, and donuts. Such foods will increase blood sugar, which leads to NAFLD.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do ketogenic diets help to improve NAFLD?

Since many people with NAFLD are overweight, they also recommend consuming low-carb diets. Keto diet is one of the best diets that can cure NAFLD and that’s why it is recommended all over the world.

How to treat Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance can be treated by keto diet but keto diet alone is responsible of for curing only 20% of insulin resistance. For optimal results you have to combine keto diet with intermittent fasting. Keto plus intermittent fasting speeds up the cure of insulin resistance by 90% and is the most effective way of treating insulin resistance.

Which type of food is included in the Ketogenic Diet?

You consume very few carbs on a low-carbohydrate diet and get the rest of your calories from fat and protein.

Should I follow different diets to beat NAFLD?

Your doctor probably has already prescribed some well-balanced diet and lifestyle to help reverse NAFLD. Usually, weight loss is recommended if you’re overweight.