The ketogenic diet is an effective treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The good news is that a low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diet can lead to a dramatic loss of liver fat and can potentially reverse the disease. The time to start is now, so you can start living your healthiest and best life. GuidanceInsulin resistance is a common and almost silent condition in which the body's cells become less able to respond efficiently to the hormone insulin.
This causes the pancreas to secrete even more insulin to keep blood sugar stable. A keto diet does not cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It is possible to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with a ketogenic diet, and people with NAFLD can see significant improvements. Talk to your doctor before making the change.
In any case, a diet low in carbohydrates and high in exercise at least three times a week can help keep the liver healthy. A recent pilot study put five patients on a ketogenic diet (less than 20 grams of carbohydrate per day). After six months, the average weight loss was 28 pounds, but this was not the most surprising finding. Each patient underwent a liver biopsy, and four of the five patients showed a reduction in liver fat, inflammation and fibrosis.
This provides preliminary evidence that the ketogenic diet can reverse fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Eating "ketogenic" is a popular fad diet, and recently I have even noticed some doctors recommending it. There is growing evidence, such as from a study by researchers at the USC Keck School of Medicine, that ketogenic diets that severely restrict carbohydrates and replace them primarily with fat appear to be associated with an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. If you want to lose a few pounds, you may be tempted to try popular new approaches such as the ketogenic diet or fasting.
This report discusses the rationale, benefits and risks of the ketogenic diet and encourages increased vigilance and monitoring of patients on the ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diets are complicated to follow and difficult to maintain for most people because of the limited food choices. This means that high-fat keto diets had a greater and more rapid impact on liver fat content than carbohydrate restriction. However, there appear to be no long-term controlled studies showing that keto diets are associated with permanent weight loss.
Other benefits of the ketogenic diet include a reduction in triglycerides, abdominal fat and the risk of metabolic syndrome. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that can induce weight loss and improved glycaemic control, but poses the risk of inducing hyperlipidaemia, elevated liver enzymes and the development of fatty liver disease. The keto diet severely restricts all carbohydrates, thereby causing a drop in blood sugar levels. To ensure you reach your health and weight loss goals, you should adjust your meals and portions based on your macro ketogenic needs (our ketogenic calculator can help you figure this out).
The ketogenic diet has also been shown in multiple studies to be more effective than a calorie-restricted diet in reversing type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and hyperlipidaemia. People following a ketogenic diet have been shown to lose and maintain more weight than those following a low-fat diet. Further research shows that the ketogenic diet may not only aid weight loss, but may also help prevent fatty liver disease and reverse fatty liver damage. However, if a person on a keto diet gains weight by any means, the fat may be stored preferentially in the liver rather than in fat cells elsewhere.
