What is fatty liver and why should it be treated? Is exercise good for fatty liver? If yes, which exercise is suitable for fatty liver and its treatme?
Fortunately, exercise is an excelle way to improve and treat fatty liver. In this article, we first talked in detail about this disease and its treatme solutions, and then we iroduced the best exercise for fatty liver.
What is fatty liver and its types
Fatty liver disease has a simple definition: it means your liver is fatty!
The liver is the largest organ in the human body, which helps in digestion, energy storage and elimination of toxins. A healthy, well-functioning liver coains a small amou of fat, but fat accumulation becomes problematic when it reaches more than 5% of the liver’s weight. Unfortunately, fatty liver disease often has no symptoms and you will notice this disease when the severity of liver fat is very high and the work has become very difficult. This disease has two main types:
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) – this type is very common in Iran
- Alcoholic fatty liver disease, also called alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Types of fatty liver grades
Having a fatty liver does not always mean the same thing. This disease is divided io 4 grades in terms of progress:
- Grade one or simple fatty liver: At this stage, the disease is in the beginning stage, and your liver has become somewhat fatty due to bad nutrition. Unfortunately, this stage has no symptoms and can only be diagnosed with tests or ultrasound. But if you follow the doctor’s instructions, your liver will return to normal. Otherwise, the situation will worsen.
- Grade 2 fatty liver or steatohepatitis: At this stage, the accumulated fat in the liver increases and the liver tissue is being damaged. But it is still treatable; If you follow the doctor’s order.
- Grade 3 fatty liver: At this stage, the poor liver is so fatty that it is inflamed and the symptoms of cirrhosis gradually appear. If there is no treatme at this stage, it will eer the next stage, which is grade four, which is very dangerous.
- Grade four liver or advanced cirrhosis: At this stage, the liver tissue is severely damaged and unfortunately, the damage caused by cirrhosis is permane and irreversible. The liver that reaches this stage needs a transpla in most cases.
Why should we treat fatty liver?
Fatty liver disease definitely needs treatme and atteion; Because if you leave your fatty liver without treatme, you will have very expensive complications!
Fatty liver disease is completely reversible and treatable in the early stages, so stage one and two are a golden opportunity to treat this disease. But negligence in treatme leads to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, which are irreversible damages. Grade 3 and 4 fatty liver causes severe liver dysfunction and causes threatening and dangerous side effects such as liver failure or even liver cancer.
We only have one liver, and if it is permanely damaged, there is nothing we can do except a liver transpla. But the liver is not the only organ that gets damaged due to fatty liver, people with fatty liver are at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases including heart attack and stroke.
Fatty liver disease is often associated with other metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and obesity. Treating fatty liver disease can help improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar levels, and reduce weight, thereby improving overall metabolic health.
Fatty liver in grades three and four can have other annoying side effects for you that have a lot of negative effects on your quality of life and health; Such as: fatigue, jaundice, and severe skin complications.
Fatty liver treatme solutions
Usually, the first way that doctors prescribe to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is weight loss is Losing weight itself helps to reduce fat, inflammation and heal liver ulcers. Did you know that just losing about 5% of your body weight can significaly reduce the amou of fat in your liver? Even grade one fatty liver will (sometimes) be cured just by losing body fat.
The importance of weight loss for the treatme of fatty liver is so serious that weight loss surgery is recommended even for those who are morbidly obese. But the most importa part of treating fatty liver is Quit alcohol is For someone with a damaged liver, it is esseial and vital to stop drinking alcohol or things will go very badly.
Both alcoholic fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) can lead to cirrhosis. Complications caused by cirrhosis are treated with medicine, surgery and other medical methods (to some exte). But if cirrhosis leads to liver failure, you may need a liver transpla. You can find other treatmes for fatty liver disease below.
Take Vitamin E!
Studies have shown that vitamin E can improve liver health by reducing inflammation, but the dosage is only at the discretion of your doctor and should not be taken on its own.
Eat olive oil!
As a healthy fat, olive oil reduces the amou of fat stored in the liver, improves how the body deals with fats and sugars after a meal, and reduces inflammation.
Take care of yourself!
For fatty liver disease, you need to make the necessary changes in your lifestyle. Have proper nutrition, quality sleep and exercise program for fatty liver. Also, do not do things that damage your liver. Drinking alcohol, over-the-couer medications, and herbal remedies make it harder on the liver.
Exercise more!
Exercise is good for fatty liver. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week for fatty liver. You can get your suitable exercise program from vitamin trainers.
Have a healthy diet and basic diet!
Eat a healthy diet, limit high-fat foods (such as sausage, bacon, cake, chocolate, etc.). Replace saturated fats (such as butter, red meat, and cheese) with unsaturated fats (such as olive oil, salmon, and avocado).
Eat foods with a low glycemic index, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid foods and drinks that coain simple sugars (such as sugary sodas, sports drinks, juices, and ice cream). If the doctor has prescribed medicine for you, take the medicine regularly and adhere to his recommendations.
How to treat our fatty liver with exercise?| Exercise for fatty liver
Exercise is always recommended for fatty liver. Regular exercise is an importa part of treating fatty liver, especially non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. But why?
First, regular physical activity helps to reduce the amou of fat stored in the liver. This is importa regardless of weight loss, as you will be helping to reduce your liver fat by exercising, even if you are not losing weight. Although exercise can help you lose weight, weight loss is very importa for treating fatty liver. Exercise has other direct benefits for fatty liver:
- Improve blood sugar corol
- Improve blood pressure
- Improving blood fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides
- Increase muscle mass
- Improve muscle strength and endurance
- Improve meal health
- Improving the quality of life
Regular exercise can play a role in preveing other conditions associated with fatty liver, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, as well as liver damage associated with the developme of fatty liver. For people with fatty liver disease, a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training is usually recommended.
Even small amous of exercise can be beneficial for fatty liver. Remember, start your workout with low iensity and gradually increase the iensity and duration over time.
Useful and suitable exercises for fatty liver
People with fatty liver disease are usually recommended a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise.
Aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking, cycling, swimming, running, dancing, and group sports) is especially helpful for managing fatty liver, and it also improves your cardiovascular health, blood vessel health, and aerobic fitness.
Resistance and strength exercises (such as weight training, body weight exercises, resistance band exercises) can also help strengthen healthy muscles and bones.
Your goal should be to have 150 minutes of moderate-iensity aerobic exercise per week and do two strength training sessions.
Be sure to choose activities as exercise for fatty liver that are within your physical capabilities so that you don’t get any damage. It is also importa to choose exercises that you enjoy so that you can stick with your exercise program in the long run.
final word
The liver naturally coains a certain amou of fat. But the alarm goes off when the liver fat becomes too normal. Fatty liver can be corolled and treated in many cases by following some simple solutions. Having a healthy lifestyle can help a lot in treating fatty liver.
One of the importa things is exercise for fatty liver. Regular exercise has a very positive effect on liver health by reducing liver fat and body fat in general.
Sources: liverwellnessprogram – narayanahealth
