Why is fatty liver so common and why is healthcare not addressing it?
Fatty Liver Disease has become the most prevalent liver disease in human history. It affects almost 2 billion people globally1. Even for an active individual, it can steal 6 to 10 years of life expectancy (2,3). Yet it is largely unknown to the general population, policymakers and even the global public health community. Led by the conviction that education is more effective than medication, Biocol is launching a series of monthly masterclasses fully dedicated to the most central organ in the modern age, the Liver.
This common oversight can lead to a worsening of symptoms following a detox regime, as the body can become overloaded with toxins that are not being efficiently eliminated.
The liver is the single largest and heaviest internal organ, because it's responsible for over 500 vital functions across our organism. It’s most critical function: acting as the body’s primary filtering system. Everything that comes in via our mouths, nose and skin into our bloodstream is selected, broken down, and metabolized by the liver. Harmful toxins are isolated and sent to the kidneys and intestines to be flushed out by poop.Once the liver knows the blood is purified, it adds the nutrients the entire organism needs to function and then sends the nutrient-rich blood to the heart to distribute it throughout the body. In case you have nutrition in excess, the liver has the capacity to store until it's needed. The liver can store vitamin A up to 4 years and vitamin D up to 4 months.The liver is so important, that it’s the only organ with the word “live” in it.
Turning my liver into Pate? Non merci.
Fatty Liver Disease is just like the French delicacy - Duck Foie Gras. It occurs when you deposit more fat than your liver can process.
For a human liver, this can happen in various ways, all lifestyle related. Overweight4. Excess calories from overeating and over drinking. Alcohol5. Medication6. Pesticides. Pollution7, 8.Tap water9. Muscle-building supplements10. Plastics. Forever chemicals in take-away boxes, cookware, cosmetics and clothes. And so on. Simply put, our livers were not designed for modern life, as it can’t process and expel all the toxins at the pace we are currently ingesting them. As a consequence, surplus harmful toxins get stored in the liver cells, causing chronic inflammation in the organ tissues, and the liver becomes fatty and swollen and ultimately scarred and damaged. Like a bad paté.Bon appétit.
Your liver doesn't know the difference between a Frappuccino and Tequila.
Historically, Fatty Liver Disease has been exclusively associated with alcoholism and the death of celebrities such as George Michael, Jimi Hendrix and Billie Holiday. Today, Fatty Liver Disease has reached an epidemic stage. It's estimated that 45% of adults and 25% of kids across America have it, regardless of their weight, gender or social status.To our liver's knowledge, men and children are becoming increasingly alcoholics. Because this organ struggles to process sugar as much as it does with alcohol. Both are equally inflammatory11, 12. And sugar today is everywhere, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup, a sweetener used to enhance the flavor of foods and beverages. It’s in your salad dressings, in your bread, even in your dreams, via sleep gummies.The World Health Organization advises that people eat no more than 25 grams (g) of added sugar per day. The average person in the United States consumes more than 126 g of sugar per day. Even Switzerland, a country far from the top 10 rank, exceeds by 3 times the recommended limit, with an average of 76.1 g per day.How do you escape the Fatty Liver Disease epidemic when you can't escape sugar? We stopped giving alcohol to children. Treating sugar the same way would be a great start.
What happens in your liver doesn't stay in your liver.
A Fatty Liver steals 6 to 10 years from your life expectancy because a damaged liver means a damaged body. Once the liver is impaired, harmful toxins are now free to roam across our entire organism. The fat in your liver starts building up also around the other organs, igniting a chain reaction of sickness throughout the whole body.Bile levels decrease. You have deficient digestion. Blood sugar levels deregulate. You develop metabolic syndrome and soon diabetes13. Cholesterol rises. Triglycerides (fat balls) that cannot be metabolized start gumming up your blood vessels. This doubles the chances of cardiovascular disease2. Fat accumulates in your belly, in your legs, around your organs. Toxins are attracted to that fat. Inflammation rises. It shrinks your brain. Glutathione levels decrease. Your immune system loses strength. You develop chronic inflammation. That’s connected to all kinds of cancer.The top leading causes of death in the United States are: Hypertension, Stroke, Heart attacks, Diabetes, Cancer and Alzheimer’s, and all can be traced back to Fatty Liver Disease.
The liver remains asymptomatic until it's 66% damaged
Fatty Liver Disease is known in the medical world as "The Silent Killer". The liver has no pain receptors, so when you feel something, it’s usually too late to reverse it. Most of the time, Fatty Liver Disease is diagnosed when screened for other diseases. The silent nature of Fatty Liver Disease is what makes it especially dangerous and overlooked by healthcare. Even though already considered a pandemic by the WHO and expected to grow in the coming decades, causing substantial economic and well-being losses and burdening health-care systems, still little attention has been paid to the prevention or treatment of the Global Public Health and the Healthcare Industry – neither is part of the United Nations Development Goals, nor is there yet any approved pharmacological treatment for NASH. Therefore, individual pro-activity is key. If you have 2 or more of these risk factors, you should consider getting screened. Inactive lifestyle Skin irritation Daily exposure to city pollution Daily consumption of +15g of sugar High cholesterol Weekly consumption of take away food Belly fat Weekly consumption of alcohol Overweight Family history of liver damage Hair loss
References
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2. Shang Y, Nasr P, Widman L, Hagstrom H. Life expectancy and risk of cardiovascular disease in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a population-based cohort study. EASL International Liver Congress, June 23-26, 2021. Abstract OS-293.
3. Xie K, Chen CH, Tsai SP, Lu PJ, Wu H, Zeng Y, Ye Y, Tu H, Wen C, Huang M, Zhang Y, Lee JH, Tsai MK, Wen CP, Wu X. Loss of Life Expectancy by 10 Years or More From Elevated Aspartate Aminotransferase: Finding Aspartate Aminotransferase a Better Mortality Predictor for All-Cause and Liver-Related than Alanine Aminotransferase. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019 Sep;114(9):1478-1487. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000000332. PMID: 31425154.
4. Younossi ZM, Koenig AB, Abdelatif D, Fazel Y, Henry L, Wymer M. Global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease—meta-analytic assessment of prevalence, incidence, and outcomes. Hepatology. 2016;64(1):73–84. doi:10.1002/hep.28431
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6. Lee WM. Drug-induced acute liver failure. Clin Liver Dis. 2013 Nov;17(4):575-86, viii. doi: 10.1016/j.cld.2013.07.001. Epub 2013 Sep 4. PMID: 24099019; PMCID: PMC3838908.
7. Armstrong LE, Guo GL. Understanding Environmental Contaminants’ Direct Effects on Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Progression. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2019 Sep;6(3):95-104. doi: 10.1007/s40572-019-00231-x. PMID: 31090041; PMCID: PMC6698395.
11. Todoric J, Di Caro G, Reibe S, Henstridge DC, Green CR, Vrbanac A, Ceteci F, Conche C, McNulty R, Shalapour S, Taniguchi K, Meikle PJ, Watrous JD, Moranchel R, Najhawan M, Jain M, Liu X, Kisseleva T, Diaz-Meco MT, Moscat J, Knight R, Greten FR, Lau LF, Metallo CM, Febbraio MA, Karin M.Todoric J, et al. Nat Metab. 2020 Aug 24. doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-0261-2. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32839596.
12. Jensen T, Abdelmalek MF, Sullivan S, Nadeau KJ, Green M, Roncal C, Nakagawa T, Kuwabara M, Sato Y, Kang DH, Tolan DR, Sanchez-Lozada LG, Rosen HR, Lanaspa MA, Diehl AM, Johnson RJ. Fructose and sugar: A major mediator of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. J Hepatol. 2018 May;68(5):1063-1075. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2018.01.019. Epub 2018 Feb 2. PMID: 29408694; PMCID: PMC5893377.
13. Dharmalingam M, Yamasandhi PG. Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2018 May-Jun;22(3):421-428. doi: 10.4103/ijem.IJEM_585_17. PMID: 30090738; PMCID: PMC6063173.
WRITTEN BY
Poppy Burr
Medical Herbalist
Poppy holds a first-class Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Herbal Medicine from Middlesex University in London, and is a member of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (MCPP). She has four years of clinical experience as a medical herbalist, and holds a Level 3 certificate in First Response Emergency Care.
