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Fatty Liver

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diabetesmum

Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Okay, so I'm not a diabetic (yet!), tho' I have 2 daughters who are Type 1 which is why I belong to this forum.

Anyway, I suspect I may be heading towards Type 2 as I fill all the criteria admirably! I am convinced by the low carb argument and want to try it, however I have been diagnosed with a fatty liver (not alcohol related, I am virtually a teetotaller), and I am afraid of eating all the yummy cheese, eggs, cream, bacon etc etc that seem to make up quite a big part of a low carb diet. I don't want to make my liver any fattier (sounds revolting doesn't it?!), but I do want to lose weight, cut down on carbs and generally feel better.

Does anyone know anything about fatty livers? I have done some reading and it seems that even losing weight (fat) too quickly can make it worse, and the advice seems to be to follow a low fat (aaargh!) diet and lose weight slowly.

Any advice welcome, please.
Sue
 
Hi Sue
I have had this condition for the last 20 years with NO problems, and like you am virtually tea total ie maybe on small bottle beer a month :shock: had it before i was even diagnosed with diabetes. Apparently it goes hand in hand with diabetes.

Since i became diabetic my ALT numbers, which are normally high with fatty liver, have actually got better which could be downto the lifestyle changes but not 100% sure.

Anyway im at work at the mo and havent got much time, Try this link

http://www.livernorth.org.uk/pages/factsheet.htm

You will find amongst others a leaflet on Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis or Fatty liver as us commoners call it, it may help. If you have any questions then feel free to ask or pm me if need be.

Brian
 
Hi Sue
this might help a bit
Pate de fois Gras is induced fatty liver of geese. They make them that way by stuffing them with grains NOT fats. so those geese wouldn't have fatty livers if they didn't have Carbs stuffed forcibly down their throats.
Low carb can help your liver, It won't make it worse.
Cattle are fattened on grain too, not plant oil.
PS I WILL NOT eat pate de fois gras! I think it's cruel
Hana
 
Thanks, Brian and Hana for your replies. I read the info on the link you provided, Brian. The advice there seems to be to cut down on fat and lose no more than two pounds a week, which is what I have read elsewhere. My liver function tests were 'within normal bounds', but I have had some discomfort and my GP said it is probably because the liver has to stretch when another fat globule is laid down , to accommodate it, and this is what makes it hurt. That is why I'm a bit nervous about eating 'fatty' foods. Do you eat low carb? Have you ever noticed any pain after eating so-called 'fatty' foods like cheese etc?

What you say about the geese makes a lot of sense, Hana. I also won't eat foie gras, on principle! I'm sure a lot of my own problems, esp the weight problem, have come about because of years of stuffing my face with carbs, that's why I want to try low carb - but I'm scared of my liver hurting!! It sounds pathetic, but having had really bad gallstone attacks (gall bladder now gone, thankfully), I am wary of inducing a similar pain in that general area! Or anywhere else, come to think of it!!
Sue
 
Life is a right blast isn't it!

The good thing is that your gall bladder is already gone.

High carb diets are thought to produce gallstones and high fat diets are thought to provoke the passage of bile and any gall stones that are there. ( Barry Groves: second opinion site)

Your liver is already showing signs of "pate-fication" from your high carb diet and is likely to improve with a restricted carb diet. If you eat plenty of protein at each meal to keep yourself from becoming hungry before the next one and replace sugars, bread, pasta, rice and potatoes with salads and low starch veg you can lose weight and improve your liver tests without necessarily upping the amount of total fat you consume. A lot of high carb foods have hidden fats that you won't get on a restricted carb diet.
 
Hi Doczoc, yeah it's a depressing thought isn't it?

Katharine,
Thanks very much for your advice. I am determined now to give low carb a try. Perhaps if I don't go beserk on the cheese etc it will be okay.
Sue
 
diabetesmum said:
Hi Doczoc, yeah it's a depressing thought isn't it?

Katharine,
Thanks very much for your advice. I am determined now to give low carb a try. Perhaps if I don't go beserk on the cheese etc it will be okay.
Sue
Click to expand...

It is depressing. However, I am going to continue with low carbing, even it means increase in fat intake. Like others have alluded to, I really do think it's the carbs that are causing this, not the fat.

As for losing more that 2 pound a week, if I read the leaflet correct, it says 'liver functioning may further be reduced'. In other words it won't make the fatty liver issue worse, rather the liver will be working harder breaking down the waste products from the fat loss, making your liver have to work harder than it normally would. This combined with the fatty liver issue would make it less efficient. Am I wrong in thinking this?
 
I don't know.

Your liver is a fantastic organ and has amazing capacity to regenerate. I don't think you want to lose more than a pound or two a week anyway for the sake of possible skin sagging effects.
 
Mmm, I don't really understand all this liver stuff :? . I am imagining that just as the liver 'processes' fat that you ingest (and excess amounts might be laid down in the liver as 'fat globules' or whatever), in the same way it has to process fat that is being broken down and shed as you lose weight. So - does this mean that globules of this fat, if shed at more than a pound or two a week, will also be laid down in the liver and make an already fatty liver even fattier??

Or am I just completely paranoid, totally confused and should just get on and do the low carb diet and see what happens?

As for saggy skin, OMG I don't even want to think about that !
Sue
 

Katahrine is right (she should be she's a doctor!)

Basically the liver's job is to process things into other things. One thing it does is to process carbs into triglycerides and other fats. I know someone elsewhere who reversed a fatty liver over time with low carbing. My dangerously high lipids (I also had gallstones) have normalised through reducing the carbs, they actually got worse by reducing the fats. The closer you can approach normal BG and the longer you can hold it there the more improvements you are likely to see.
 
Hi Sue,

So - does this mean that globules of this fat, if shed at more than a pound or two a week, will also be laid down in the liver and make an already fatty liver even fattier??
Click to expand...

No. If you lose the weight from your fat stores it just gets converted to energy. It is excess carbs that end up stored in your liver.

It is hard enough losing 1 or 2 pounds a week but to lose more could lead to a bit more sagging than we want.
 
Thanks very much, Trinkwasser and Katharine. That answers my question. I had been confused by what my GP told me (ie to eat a low fat diet based on the GI diet approach) and worried that I would make things worse for my poorly liver if I went low carb. But now I think I understand sufficiently to feel comfortable reducing my carbs fairly drastically and eating more protein and lots of veges which I love but have not bothered to eat for ages because my OH doesn't like them and so I don't make them. Time to be bothered for myself I think, and my 2 girls of course, although getting them to eat veges will be an uphill battle - they are like their Dad in that respect!

Many thanks for all your advice everyone.
Sue
 
Hi I had type 2 I reversed it in 3 months 54mm to 36mm no meds just diet and exercise I went low carb I lost 2 st 10lb I’ve lost another 1 stone n half since but I had fatty liver as well that was 159 and I got it to 20 in 3 months no further so I think low carb is good to help get the liver back to normal I also took Apple cider vinegar tablets from Holland and Barrett’s they help with fatty liver
 
I’ve just had another hbc1a last week and liver test liver still normal and hbc1a is 35mm
 
Hi @Madisons , would you like me to move your post and its replies to a thread of your own?
You posted it as a reaction on a 12 year old thread, where it won't be seen by many.
 
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