Nutrition for fatty liver

Definition

A fatty liver (stetatosis hepatis) is usually referred to as a potentially reversible fat storage in the liver cells (hepatocytes). This fatty deposit can therefore still be reversed. A fatty liver can have various causes, such as chronic alcohol consumption or non-alcoholic causes (non-alcoholic-fat-liver-disease) such as lipid metabolism disorders, over-nutrition, obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2.

Steatohepatitis, in which there are also signs of inflammation, must be distinguished from this. Another term to be distinguished from this is alcoholic fatty liver disease. This term is often erroneously used as a synonym for fatty liver, but it does not refer to a single clinical picture, but covers a group of diseases. These include simple fatty liver, but also fatty liver hepatitis (steatohepatitis), liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The following article will focus on fatty liver and the special aspects of nutrition that should be taken into account when treating fatty liver.

What should you consider?

The presence of fatty liver represents a serious condition of the liver, which can be caused by various factors. A fatty liver can be caused by excessive alcohol consumption, metabolic syndrome, over-nutrition and overweight, or other pre-existing conditions. In general, the mortality of patients with fatty liver hepatitis, which can result from fatty liver, and the resulting secondary diseases is higher than in the healthy normal population.

Such secondary diseases can, for example, affect the heart and the vascular system. For this the risk is very high in particular with patients with alcohol abuse, a metabolic syndrome and associated overweight. Other secondary diseases, such as cirrhosis of the liver or a tumor disease of the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma) can also develop at the base of a fatty liver. It is therefore recommended to have the cause of fatty liver clarified and to minimize risk factors as much as possible. Patients whose fatty liver can be attributed originally to their diet or at least partially to their diet should pay particular attention to this.