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Episode 57: Obesity And Liver Health

 

Obesity And Liver Health

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver condition in the United States. It’s estimated that about 25 percent of adults in the U.S. have NAFLD. In today’s podcast episode, we will delve into the link between obesity and liver disease with Dr. Marine Lipartia. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine. She has done some research on Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease as well and is the Founder and Medical Director of NUMEO Medical, a boutique-style obesity medicine practice offering a comprehensive and personalized approach to patients.

 

Key Takeaways:

Tune in to this conversation with Dr. Marine Lipartia and learn:

  • The science behind NAFLD
  • Lifestyle habits that contribute to NAFLD
  • Difference between glucose and fructose and how they impact liver health
  • Effects of fatty liver on patient’s overall health
  • Simple steps to prevent and counter fatty liver

 

What is Fatty Liver Diseases (FLD)?

  1. It is the abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver tissue.
  2. Up to five percent liver fat is normal.

What Causes Abnormal Fat Deposition?

  1. Fat deposition is not so much from fat we eat nor fatty acids from the circulation, but from different pathways that make ‘new fat’.
  2. In a healthy liver, fat deposits come from dietary fat or free fatty acids. The excess fat deposition in the liver happens from the de novo lipogenesis or ‘new fat formation’.
  3. It is still unsure whether those disruptive pathways with insulin resistance drive obesity and abnormal fat accumulation or it is obesity that causes fatty liver disease.

Which Lifestyle Habits Contribute to Fatty Liver Disease (FLD)?

  1. Less physical activity/ less physical labor
  2. Eating processed foods
  3. Consuming huge amounts of added sugar

 

How Does Fatty Liver Disease (FLD) Impact Health In The Long Run?

  1. FLD itself is associated with metabolic syndromes and diabetes, and also with higher cardiovascular complications such as heart diseases, heart attacks, stroke.
  2. Over time, about 20% of these patients will develop steatohepatitis (inflammation or scar tissue formation). The development of scar tissue might lead to cirrhosis, which puts a person at high risk for liver cancer and might require transplant surgery, or lead to full liver failure and hepatitis.

 

Is Fatty Liver Disease (FLD) Reversible?

  1. YES. Even advanced stages are reversible.
  2. The cornerstone for reversibility: lifestyle and weight loss.
  3. Any kind of exercise (such as aerobic, strength-training, or cardio), even without visible weight loss, can improve the liver fat in fibrosis. Any weight loss is also helpful for fatty liver disease.
  4. Medications and vitamins are helpful, but they should always be combined with the proper lifestyle and weight management.

 

How Quickly Do Patients Reverse Fatty Liver with Weightloss?

  1. Parameters start improving as early as three months.
  2. As soon as the exercise is added, you will start seeing improvements in lipid panel, cholesterol, high-sensitivity CRP, and insulin levels.
  3. Blood work starts improving quickly even before you start losing weight or see any physical changes.

Note: The high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is the measure of inflammation in the body.

 

Quotes:

Dr. Marine Lipartia

“When you are loading with a lot of sugar, your liver gets overwhelmed. And any liver is not designed to metabolize that much fructose in a short period of time.”

“The goal always is to transition to whole foods where, honestly, when you are eating whole food, you don’t really need to count anything.”

“There is not a single person that benefits from added sugar in the diet. No matter what you like or what’s your lifestyle, added sugar is not good for anyone.”

 

Dr. Avishkar Sabharwal

“The cornerstone really remains a good diet and exercise.”

“That’s the fascinating part about physical health. Once you start improving all of these things— your lifestyle—you start seeing results fairly quickly.”

 

Links:

Dr. Marine Lipartia: LinkedIn, InstagramFacebook, Twitter

NUMEO Medical: numeomedical.com

 

Thank you for listening to another episode of Decoding Obesity!

 

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