Cirrhosis of the Liver; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Introduction

There are many conditions in Western industrialised societies today that were unheard of, or at least very rare, just a century ago. The same conditions are still unheard of in primitive peoples who do not have the 'benefits' of our knowledge. There is a very good reason for this: They eat what Nature intended; we don't. The diseases caused by our incorrect and unnatural diets are those featured on these pages.

Dietary causes:

Cirrhosis information

Cirrhosis of the liver is a potentially fatal condition. Many people probably think of cirrhosis as being restricted to those who drink prodigious amounts of alcohol. But, in fact, many things may cause cirrhosis.

Both experimental and epidemiological studies have shown that alcohol drinkers who eat 'unhealthy' saturated animal fats have no liver injury.[1] It was only when subjects replaced animal fats with 'healthy' polyunsaturated fats containing linoleic acid that problems arose. Linoleic acid even at levels as low as 0.7 or 2.5%, with alcohol, caused fatty liver, necrosis, and inflammation.

Omitting cholesterol from the diet had very similar harmful effects.[2]

A major — and increasingly common — form of liver damage is a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This can progress to fibrosis and then to cirrhosis.

It is estimated that NAFLD affects between 14% and 21% of the populations of Europe and Asia, and 24% of the United States population. It is more common among adults who are obese or have diabetes,[3] NAFLD is more common in males in all age groups. The prevalence of NAFLD in both sexes increases with age and with weight. Among women, the risk of NAFLD increases after menopause. But lately there has emerged a worrying trend as NAFLD is increasingly found in children.[4]

Despite its name, fatty liver is not necessarily caused by an 'unhealthy' fatty diet — quite the reverse. You may be surprised to learn that 'healthy' starchy foods such as cereals are the prime cause of NAFLD. The French delicacy, pâté de fois gras, is a perfect example of how it develops. The pâté is made from goose livers, but not just any goose livers: they have to be fat ones. To achieve this, the geese whose livers are to be used are force-fed grain which is high in starch for several days. It is this that fattens the liver.

The same thing happens in humans who eat a starchy diet. Presenting the results of a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Dr Jeanne Clark told delegates how a study of liver biopsies showed that the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet often recommended for very obese patients with NAFLD increased their risk of liver inflammation as much as seven times compared with patients with the lowest carbohydrate intake.[5] Conversely, she told delegates, high-fat diets appeared to be protective.

This confirmed an earlier study in which patients with established alcoholic cirrhosis benefited from a saturated fat diet.[6]

References

[1]. Nanji AA, French SW. Dietary linoleic acid is required for development of experimentally induced alcoholic liver-injury. Life Sciences 1989; 44: 223-301.
[2]. Laitinen, M., et al., Effects of dietary cholesterol feeding on the membranes of liver cells and on the cholesterol metabolism in the rat. Int J Biochem 1982; 14: 239-41.
[3]. Sargin M, Uygur-Bayramicli O, Sargin H, et al. Association of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease With Insulin Resistance: Is OGTT Indicated in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease? J Clin Gastroenterol 2003; 37: 399-402.
[4]. Schwimmer JB, Deutsch R, Rauch JB, et al. Obesity, insulin resistance, and other clinicopathological correlates of pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Pediatr 2003; 143: 500-505.
[5]. Diet for Obese Patient Tied to Liver Inflammation. Reuters Health, 27 October 2003. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=3698408&section=news , accessed 28 October 2003.
[6]. Nanji AA, Yang EK, Fogt F, et al. Medium chain triglycerides and vitamin E reduce the severity of established experimental alcoholic liver disease. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1996; 277: 1694-700.

Supplementary information

A study conducted at UT Southwestern University finds that a low-carb diet is best to reverse Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Last updated 3 March 2009