Fried Chicken- a favorite- this nicely prepared by my good friend Dolce Debbie
Is Fatty Liver Disease from Fat or Carbs
Low Carb proponents often state that fat does not cause fatty liver. But the data does not support this.
In a recent study of eating fast foods, it was noted that there was increased obesity and fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease can lead to liver cirrhosis, and death. Fatty liver disease is the most common reason for liver transplants.
Dr. Lustig’s Famous Video
Dr. Lustig, a pediatrician, made a video, watched by over 10 million people, postulated that obesity is a result of fructose. Fructose is one half of table sugar. The video was filled with metabolic pathways, showing how fructose was abnormally processed into fat, resulting in fatty liver and obesity.
His hypothesis was simple, logical, and wrong.
The Doctors Explained It Better
Dr. Ordon from “The Doctors” :
“The Doctors” revealed study findings that found regular consumption of fast food items like fried chicken and onion rings are particularly bad for your liver, and these fried foods have many surprising complications and dangers for the people that consume them.
“The amount of fat and saturated fats creates a condition called fatty liver,” said Ordon.
What’s interesting about the new information is that even after just a month of consistently eating fatty foods from fast food restaurants, there are significant changes in your liver. The fried foods do not just impact your cholesterol and waist line.
Ordon describes the changes in the liver enzymes as being surprisingly similar to the damage that is seen by hepatitis, which can ultimately lead to liver failure.
Saturated Fat Isn’t A friend
Saturated fat can lead to deposition of fat in the liver. Excess saturated fat in the diet can lead to deposition of fat in the liver. This was proven in a study by Perry et al.
In this study he showed that excess sugar alone doesn’t lead to deposition of fat in the liver. But if you take those same people, with the same calories, but substituted saturated fat, they deposited more fat into their liver.
Too Much Sugar Isn’t Great Either
When giving patients high glucose in their intra-venous fluids, surgeons discovered that their patient’s liver enzymes started to rise, from fatty liver disease. Ultimately, when surgeons then added lipids to the intra-venous nutrition, the liver enzymes of their patients stopped rising. It was discovered that to PREVENT fatty liver disease, there must be a BALANCE, and now lipids are routinely added to the intra-venous solution. High glucose alone gave fatty liver disease.
MONITORING FATTY LIVER DISEASE
In some of my weight loss surgery patients we monitor their liver fat by checking with ultrasound. The ultrasound gives us a non-invasive way of seeing if their liver has more fat in it. If they have been avoiding “junk” foods, and loose weight we can see a decrease in the liver fat over time. If, on the other hand, they have gained weight, and we see that there is an increase in liver fat, when we check their diet journals it is often that their consumption of junk food has increased.
REFERENCES:
Browning JD, Baker JA, Rogers T, Davis J, Satapati S, Burgess SC. Short-term weight loss and hepatic triglyceride reduction: evidence of a metabolic advantage with dietary carbohydrate restriction. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;93:1048–1052. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Maersk M, Belza A, Stødkilde-Jørgensen H, Ringgaard S, Chabanova E, Thomsen H, Pedersen SB, Astrup A, Richelsen B. Sucrose-sweetened beverages increase fat storage in the liver, muscle, and visceral fat depot: a 6-mo randomized intervention study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;95:283–289. [PubMed]
Parry SA, Rosqvist F, Mozes FE, Cornfield T, Hutchinson M, Piche ME, Hülsmeier AJ, Hornemann T, Dyson P, Hodson L. Intrahepatic Fat and Postprandial Glycemia Increase After Consumption of a Diet Enriched in Saturated Fat Compared With Free Sugars. Diabetes Care. 2020 May;43(5):1134-1141. doi: 10.2337/dc19-2331. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PMID: 32165444; PMCID: PMC7171936.
