Whether you know it or not, your liver is a big deal. It’s the one organ involved in every metabolic process in your body. Thing is, despite its importance in our overall health, many people are abusing it. This abuse puts us at risk for a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. NAFLD has become the leading cause of liver cancer and liver diseases worldwide, and 25%-58% of Americans have it.
While there’s no medication or treatment that will cure a fatty liver, there are a few choice foods you can eat and avoid to maintain your liver’s health. Ahead, discover the liver-friendly foods you might want to grab on your next grocery run.
But first, what is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?
NAFLD is a condition characterized by too much fat in the liver and the cause of the excess fat, in this case, is not related to alcohol consumption. Instead, abnormal fat accumulation is related to metabolic factors, such as insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, high waist circumference, or abnormal lipid levels.
The disease is so metabolically driven that the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease recently created a subclass of NAFLD called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatosis liver disease, or MASLD, to highlight the connection between fat in the liver and metabolic-related diseases. In fact, the diagnostic criteria for the two diseases overlap by 99%, so people who have NAFLD tend to also meet the criteria for MASLD.
What causes NAFLD and MASLD?
Scientists are still discovering the root causes, however, research indicates that the diseases are most likely caused by various factors, including genetics, diet, sedentary behavior, and even disregulation within the microbiome.
How are NAFLD and MASLD diagnosed?
The difference between NAFLD and MASLD comes down to how they’re diagnosed. NAFLD is the result of excess fat in the liver unrelated to alcohol or other liver diseases.
MASLD is defined as fat in the liver with metabolic abnormality. The…
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