Hello, this is Monica Reinagel, and this week on the Nutrition Devo

podcast, we're talking about an extremely common but relatively little known health condition called non-alcoholic

fatty liver disease and how you can help your liver heal itself with a healthy diet. It's normal to have a certain amount of fat in your

liver because processing dietary and blood fats is a big part of what your liver

does. But in certain situations, fat can start to build up in the liver, and if that

goes on unchecked, it can cause inflammation, liver damage, and even liver cancer.

In its early stages, fatty liver doesn't really cause any symptoms.

It's most likely to be detected through a physical exam

during which your doctor might be able to feel that your liver is enlarged.

Blood tests, imaging, and or biopsies can then confirm this diagnosis.

Now many people associate liver disease with alcohol abuse, but most people suffering

from fatty liver disease are not alcoholics. And it's also important to note that eating a high-fat diet doesn't necessarily lead to fatty liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is more likely to be caused by chronically high blood sugar and insulin resistance,

which we tend to see in people who are overweight, as well as those with type 2 diabetes or

pre-diabetes. At last count, over one third of the adult population has some

degree of fatty liver, and that's about the same percentage as suffers from type 2 diabetes.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases actually... the same percentage as suffers from type 2 diabetes.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is actually the most common chronic liver condition

in the world.

Now fatty liver disease often goes hand in hand with other risk factors for heart disease as well, such as high triglycerides.

And in fact, people with this condition are much more likely to die of heart disease than they are to die of liver disease.

Okay, enough with the bad news.

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