What To Eat To Improve A Fatty Liver - Eat This, Don't Eat That, What Every FLD Patient Should Know

If you're wondering what to eat to improve a fatty liver, then take just a few moments to read to the end of this article. I'll share with you what I've learned about fatty liver disease (FLD) and what foods you should and should not eat to reduce fat in your liver.

A fatty liver simply refers to having too much fat (specifically triglycerides) accumulated in your liver. So what exactly is "too much" fat? Generally speaking, a liver is considered "fatty" when fat makes up between 5-10% or more of the liver by weight. Fat builds up in and around the spaces of hepatocytes (liver cells), causing the liver to enlarge and grow heavier.

STEATOSIS

In the early stages of FLD, often referred to as simple steatosis, the condition is often benign and asymptomatic. Many patients don't even know they have FLD. It is often found when doing blood work or other tests for entirely different reasons. The only way to definitively diagnose the condition is through a livery biopsy, but factors such as elevated liver enzymes often clue physicians into the problem.

A diet plan for fatty liver is most often centered around balance, moderation, regulation, and reducing fat intake to less than 30% of the total daily calories. In other words, if you're eating a 1200 calorie diet, then fat calories should make up no more than 360 of those calories. This is equivalent to about 40 grams per day. Since fatty liver is often associated with obesity, losing weight can have a significant impact on improving liver function and liver health.

So that brings us to the question of what you should and should not eat. Complex carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your energy source. These can be found in things like whole grains, brown rice, and pasta. The simple carbohydrates found in sweets should be avoided.

Diets for fatty liver patients are also generally high in fiber and include an abundance of fruits and vegetables. Fats, particularly saturated fats, should be carefully monitored. Protein can be obtained from vegetables or from leaner white meats such as chicken or turkey instead of beef or pork. Here is a brief run down of some of the things you should and should not eat if you want to reduce fat in your liver.

Foods You Should Avoid And/Or Carefully Monitor

White bread and white rice High fat butters Sweets containing simple carbohydrates (candy, doughnuts, etc.) High fat foods (pizza, ribs, pot pies, etc.) Eggs and other high cholesterol foods Sugary and/or carbonated drinks such as soda Fast foods and/or processed meats such as hot dogs Fried foods Alcohol (particularly if you have alcoholic fatty liver (AFL)) Salad dressing and other high fat condiments (look for low-fat or non-fat alternatives) Red meats (beef, pork)

Foods To Eat To Improve A Fatty Liver

Vegetables (greens, leaves, legumes, tomatoes, and especially broccoli) Fruits rich in vitamin E and vitamin C (oranges, papaya, kiwi, mango) Beans (these are a great alternative source of protein) Whole grain breads Milk in moderation (substitute whole milk or 2% milk with either skim milk or 1% milk) Brown rice and pasta Lean white meats (chicken, turkey, tuna)

What To Eat To Improve A Fatty Liver - Eat This, Don't Eat That, What Every FLD Patient Should Know

STEATOSIS

Improve Your Cat's Health and Help It Lose Weight

It is said you are what you eat, and as humans we know how true that is. Unfortunately many of our waistlines also show it. It is the same with our cats, they are what they eat or for that matter what they do not eat.

Cats by nature are carnivores, which means they are meat eaters and get most of their nutrition from protein and fat. Cats need very few carbohydrates in their diets to keep healthy and trim.

HEPATIC

Carbohydrates as a main source of food such as feeding dry food as a constant diet to a cat will cause the cat to overeat. Overeating carbs causes cats to gain weight, just like it does for us.

Why do cats over eat the dry food? The answer is simple they are trying to find the protein in it; in order to satisfy their natural need for protein.

A protein filled diet will make the cat feel fuller and eat less. There are many schools of thought on what makes a proper protein diet for cats. Some sources say feed them a diet of raw meat and other sources proclaim canned cat food. Personally I feed my cats dry food as treats, raw meat (beef) as part of their daily diet and quality canned food which gives them all the necessary vitamins and minerals a cat needs.

A total raw diet will not provide the cat with all the proper nutrition a cat needs. I know from experience as I have a cat that will not eat cat food if his life depended on it and it does. As a result he almost died from the lack of proper nutrition until I figured out a way to feed him vitamins and some of the cat food he needed to stay alive. Most cats however are happy eating a combination of all three-food groups as my other two cats are.

Many of us are guilty of overfeeding our cats. Cats do not need to eat every time they come near us. Regular routine feeding schedules fit a cat's lifestyle and provides a way for us to feed them just the right amounts to keep their weight at a constant level.

Did you know that about 25 percent of our cats are obese and that almost 60 percent are overweight? Extra weight on a cat is detrimental to its health, just like it is for our health.

What are some of the health problems that overweight can cause?

· A shorter life expectancy

· High blood pressure and heart disease

· Breathing problems

· Diabetes (extremely possible in overweight cats)

· Grooming problems and skin disorders (if they are too fat to properly groom themselves)

· Urinary tract problems and kidney disorders

· A fatty liver disease called Hepatic lipidosis (when excess fat clogs the liver and can result in liver failure and possible death). Should your cat become ill or you try to reduce its weight and the cat is not eating. The stored fat in the body starts to mobilize and starts processing into lipoproteins and the livers get over powered with fat and reacts. A yellowing of your cat's eyes is one sure sign. This is a very serious disease.

To prevent your cat from becoming overweight you need with the help of your veterinarian or other pet care nutritionist to decide the proper amount of food you should feed your cat. Your cat's activity level or non-activity level should be the leading factor in that determination. As cats get older their metabolic rates slow down and need less food.

If your cat needs to lose weight, it needs to lose it slowly, no starvation diets here and no withholding food (see Hepatic lipidosis). Cats need to lose weight in ounces and not in pounds.

Feeding your cat low calorie foods is important. High quality canned cat food with few carbohydrates is the way to go. Dry food is high carbs and should be a no no! If you feel a treat is necessary a bit of raw meat or a small bit of cheese will do nicely. A wonderful treat would be a little bit of good catnip that would help your cat's digestive system and provide a bit of enjoyment for the cat too. Almost like having a cocktail before dinner is for us.

To help your cat lose weight it needs to exercise! Yes, that ugly word and how do you get your cat to exercise, when walking to the litter box is the most exercise it gets.

You play with your cat. Get one of those inexpensive fishing wand toys and make kitty run around a little chasing it. Ten minutes a day several times a day will do wonders for kitty and you will get a chance to bond with your cat and enjoy the fun, too. The pet store has many interesting and catnip filled toys that your cat maybe interested in playing with. Toys do not need to be expensive, just something kitty likes.

Do not leave food out all day so kitty can nibble. Establish a routine and feed kitty several times a day, small amounts at a time. Your cat will enjoy a routine and you can monitor what it is eating.

A great New Year's resolution would be to feed your cat high quality canned food, that would provide proper nutrition and minimal weight gain and spend time playing with your cat each day to assure is gets at least some exercise.

Improve Your Cat's Health and Help It Lose Weight

HEPATIC

Buff Mice Show 'Weight Training' Muscles Reduce Fat And Improve Metabolism

It may not be time to start pumping iron just yet, but, as strange as it sounds, there is evidence in recent mice studies published in the February 6th issue of Cell Metabolism that indicates that the type of muscles that are developed by weight lifting may play a bigger role in regulating body weight than we think.

You're saying, someone has a lab full of bench-pressing mice in some medical school somewhere? Although a great image, you would only be right about the medical school part. It turns out that a team of researchers at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute of Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) has been bulking up their test mice using a technique that genetically turns on the type of fast skeletal muscles (type II) that are used for tasks like managing heavy objects.

HEPATIC STEATOSIS

No, really- somewhere in a lab in Boston, there was a team of muscular mice who were bulked up like weight trainers by genetic manipulation. Interestingly, the researchers didn't see what they expected.

The research group had expected their gene tweaking to result in fat but strong mice, more like sumo wrestlers than body builders, since the mice were being fed a fast-food-like, high-fat and high-sucrose, diet causing them to be fat to begin with all the expected problems. What they got instead was a test group that showed positive metabolic improvements when the type II fast muscle genetic switch was turned on and the muscles developed. "Remarkably, type II muscle growth was associated with an overall reduction in body mass, due to a large decrease in fat mass. In addition, blood tests showed that these mice became metabolically normal and their fatty liver disease rapidly resolved," said senior author Kenneth Walsh, PhD, a professor of medicine and head of Molecular Cardiology at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at BUSM. The beneficial changes occurred despite the fact that the mice continued to eat the same high-calorie diet and did not display any increase in physical activity. "This work shows that type II muscle just doesn't allow you to pick up heavy objects, it is also important in controlling whole body metabolism," added Walsh.

Further analysis found that the mice burned fat because of changes in the physiology and gene expression of their fat and liver cells. "Thus, it appears that the increase in type II muscle fiber orchestrates changes in the body through its ability to communicate with these other tissues," he said.

So, here is what all of this may mean to us. We've always known that activities like weight lifting that form fast, type II muscles were good for burning calories that might otherwise convert to fat. What we didn't know was that the existence of this muscle type could have such far-reaching effect in other metabolic areas as well, such as reducing hepatic steatosis (fatty liver). Walsh believes there might well be an extended connection to humans suggesting that "strength training, in addition to the widely prescribed therapy of endurance training, may be of particular benefit to overweight individuals."

The researchers are still busy revealing the interplay between diet, muscle type, and the body's metabolic systems. Their initial research is clearly the beginning of a longer process, and hopefully the further insight can lead to improvements in the treatment of those in need of weight loss and further reduce conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and hypertension.

Who would have thought that paying attention to a bunch of buff mice would have such far-reaching results.

Remember, too, that this article is for information purposes only. If you have or think you have a health issue, including weight or diet issues, consult your primary care physician for proper diagnoses and treatment.

Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide dx.doi.org/10.2121/Weight-Loss-Guide-020808

Buff Mice Show 'Weight Training' Muscles Reduce Fat And Improve Metabolism

HEPATIC STEATOSIS