Contents:
Medical Video: Diet Plan for Fatty Liver Patients
Healthy eating and a balanced diet in order to maintain body strength and healthy weight are important foundations for people who have liver disease. Good nutrition can help support your heart to function and play an important role in repairing some liver damage.
If you have liver disease, there are some special considerations that you might need before undergoing a liver disease diet to help manage your condition. An unhealthy diet can make the heart work so hard that it might cause more damage than it already is.
Guide to undergoing a liver disease diet
Although not originally intended for people with liver disease, the Mediterranean diet focuses on the adequacy of four pillars of nutrition, such as complex carbohydrates, healthy fat, protein, and antioxidant it can also help reduce the thickness of the fat layer in your heart. Talk to your doctor about the best type of diet for you so you get the right amount of nutrients, and also how many calories you have to get every day. The changes you will make will depend a lot on how well you work.
Here's the general guide:
1. Eat high-carbohydrate foods
Carbohydrates must be the main source of calories in this diet. But not just any carbohydrate. Avoid sweets, ordinary sodas, flour / pasta bread, fried foods, and other foods with added sugar including high-fructose corn syrup. Too much simple sugar speeds up the process by which the liver processes food into fat.
Complex carbohydrates, such as those with lots of fiber, are safer choices. Complex carbohydrates tend to have a low glycemic index that is digested more slowly and does not cause sugar spikes throughout your body. This can help improve insulin sensitivity and lower your blood cholesterol.
READ ALSO: 7 Sources of the Best Carbohydrates for Those on a Diet
Examples of foods that contain complex carbohydrates include grains (oats, oats, brown rice), avocados, walnuts, starchy vegetables such as corn, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, and yams, as well as green leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce. Liver disease can cause blood sugar levels to be too high or too low in some people. You may need to control the amount of carbohydrates you eat to help control your blood sugar levels.
2. Enough for your protein needs
It is important to eat the right amount of protein when you have liver disease. The following foods are good sources of protein: cold-water fish (like salmon and mackerel), lean meat, eggs and dairy products, and raw nuts and seeds.
Eat about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. This means that a man weighing 70 kilograms, for example, must eat 70 grams of protein per day. But this calculation does not include protein obtained from starchy foods and vegetables. A person with a severely damaged liver may need to eat less protein. Talk to your doctor about details of your protein needs.
READ ALSO: 11 Best Sources of Protein from Vegetable Foods
3. Fat can, as long as you have enough
People with liver disease often oppose insulin. Their body makes insulin, but it doesn't work well. As a result glucose accumulates in the blood, and the liver processes the added sugar into fat. Certain fats in your liver disease diet can increase insulin sensitivity, or the body's ability to use insulin. Your cells can take the glucose stores so that your heart does not need to make and store fat. Increased carbohydrate and fat intake also helps prevent protein breakdown in the liver.
Examples of good fats are omega 3 fatty acids found in oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring), vegetable oil, nuts (especially walnuts), and dark green leafy vegetables / fruits. Monounsaturated fats are also a type of fat that is good for the body. You can find monounsaturated fats in various vegetable food sources, such as olives, avocados, and nuts. Avoid saturated fats and limit consumption of meat and dairy products. Avoid cooking by roasting, burning or frying using coconut oil. This causes a buildup of more fat in your heart.
Conversely, some people with liver disease have problems digesting and absorbing fat. Non-digestible fats are removed when defecating. If you have this health problem, you may need to eat less fat. Ask your doctor or nutritionist for more information about low fat diets.
4. Eat fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants
Another reason for fat buildup in the liver is that liver cells can be damaged when nutrients do not break down properly. Fruits (especially berries, like goji berries), vegetables, and some other foods have compounds known as antioxidants that can protect cells from this damage. It's just that, remember to choose fresh products and avoid canned foods, which tend to be high in sodium.
Some studies have found that vitamin E can help with fatty liver disease. Other studies have also shown that to improve the condition of fatty liver when you need to take vitamins E and C accompanied by cholesterol-lowering drugs. Doctors do not know which one of these factors is responsible, or if all three of them work together.
READ ALSO: 6 Highest Vitamin C Fruits, Apart from Oranges
Sunflower seeds and almonds are good sources of vitamin E. Likewise with olive oil and canola oil. Other high-antioxidant foods that may have benefits for your liver include: green leafy vegetables and tuberous vegetables (broccoli and brussel sprouts), raw garlic (containing high amounts of allicin and selenium, two natural compounds that help the liver cleansing process); Green tea (rich in vegetable antioxidants known as catechins, has been known to improve liver function); acidic citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, and oranges (high in vitamin C and antioxidants to rinse poisons); and turmeric (known to help the body more efficiently digest fats and stimulate bile production, but can also act as a natural detoxification for the liver).
5. Avoid salt
You may need to reduce the amount of salt in your liver disease diet (usually less than 1500 milligrams per day) if your body retains fluid. When you maintain fluids, you will experience swelling in your body. Ask your doctor for more information about a low salt diet. Some foods that contain high amounts of salt are:
- Kitchen salt
- Smoked meat, sausages, corned beef
- Canned food and ready-made vegetable broth
- Frozen foods and packaged snacks
- Soy sauce, barbeque sauce, teriyaki sauce
- Soup packaging
You may also have to reduce drinking fluids if you have swelling of the liver. Liquids include water, milk, juice, soda and other drinks. Foods that are liquid at room temperature, such as pudding or popsicles, are also counted as a source of liquid. Ask your diet expert how much liquid you can drink every day.
6. Stop alcohol
If your liver disease is fatty liver caused by excessive alcohol consumption, stop drinking your alcohol. If the condition of your fatty liver is not caused by alcohol, you may still be allowed to consume liquor occasionally, but discuss further with your doctor about the role of alcohol in your liver disease diet.
READ ALSO: Causes of fatty liver in people who don't drink alcohol
7. Pay attention to other nutritional intake
Your health care provider may advise you to take vitamins and mineral supplements, especially B-complex vitamin supplements and D. Only consume supplements recommended by your doctor.
Liver disease can cause health problems that you can manage easily through certain dietary changes. Because everyone is different, you should work with your doctor to complete a liver disease diet plan that is right for you.
