Someone lost weight but developed fatty liver? , the last hot search every six months! Why do some people lose weight and lose fatty liver?

Recently, a piece of news that "a woman lost 40 pounds in half a year and developed severe fatty liver disease" became a hot search topic. The Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform received a question from fans: Previous hot searches claimed that someone had successfully lost weight through exercise and their fatty liver had disappeared. Why did they say they had severe fatty liver this time after they had also successfully lost weight?

A survey by the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform found that in recent years, topics related to fatty liver have appeared on the hot search list every six months on average. Each time the topics seem to be contradictory, such as "fatty liver can be reversed by losing weight", "fatty liver appears after losing weight", "eating vegetarian" You may also have fatty liver”… What is going on?

From a medical point of view, fatty liver refers to a pathological state caused by excessive fat load in the liver due to various reasons.

The causes of fatty liver include obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, alcohol consumption, etc. Among them, unhealthy lifestyle is the main cause of fatty liver. Eating too much high-fat, high-calorie, high-sugar foods, drinking a lot of alcohol, sitting for long periods of time, etc. can all induce fatty liver.

However, fatty liver is a typical "genetic-environmental-metabolic stress" related disease, and good living habits are the basis for preventing and treating fatty liver. In the early stages of fatty liver disease, there is an opportunity to reduce the fat content in the liver by adjusting lifestyle - for this reason, in June this year, "fatty liver reversal" was on the hot search list.

So, how to reverse fatty liver through lifestyle?

China Association for Science and Technology, Peking University People's Hospital, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Huangpu Branch and many other institutions and hospitals have publicly popularized science. In short, it is "healthy diet and exercise" to develop good living habits.

When it comes to healthy eating, limit the intake of high-calorie foods and avoid excessive alcohol consumption. In terms of exercise, you can strengthen exercise and use moderate aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, etc.

Since the result of these practices is often "successful weight loss," the public will think that "weight loss can reverse fatty liver." Relevant data also show that for obese patients, especially those with central obesity, the primary way to reverse fatty liver is to lose 5%-7% of their body weight. According to existing research, if you lose 5%-7% of your body weight, the liver fat content of most patients with fatty liver can be significantly reduced, and even the degree of steatohepatitis can be reduced; if you lose 10% or more of your body weight and maintain your weight, Over 20 years, liver cirrhosis may also be reversed.

Since losing weight can reverse fatty liver, why do some people "lose" severe fatty liver?

The reason is that reversing fatty liver requires a gradual process, and "excessive food taboos and excessive exercise" are not good for health.

Specifically, when people lose weight, body fat is forced to be burned, and a large amount of fat enters the liver waiting to be metabolized. The metabolic process requires the participation of enzymes composed of proteins, and the transport of fat out of the liver also requires apolipoproteins. However, many people go on a diet when losing weight, resulting in insufficient protein intake and a lack of enzymes and apolipoproteins. The liver's ability to catabolize fat is thus weakened, and fat accumulates in the liver, thus causing fatty liver disease.

The patient who lost 40 pounds this time but developed severe fatty liver only ate vegetarian vegetables and grains during the weight loss period, and only ate milk and eggs once or twice a week. Apparently, her diet was unable to support her liver's ability to metabolize fat smoothly, leading to fatty liver disease.

For this reason, doctors remind that whether you want to lose weight or reverse fatty liver, you cannot rely on eating less, but must adopt a nutritionally balanced diet. Specifically, it is beneficial to give up alcohol and snacks, consume more dietary fiber and high-quality protein, and ensure an appropriate amount of carbohydrates and fats. At the same time, don’t blindly pursue the speed of weight loss. A more scientific weight loss speed is to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week.

When the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform checked for evidence, it was found that the public still has many misunderstandings about fatty liver, including "Being vegetarian will not cause fatty liver" and "Thin people will not get fatty liver". Topics related to them have also been on the hot search list.

The reasons why vegetarians and underweight people develop fatty liver are similar to those caused by dieting and weight loss. Due to malnutrition or imbalance in this group of people, protein in the body decreases, and fat is stored in the liver, forming fatty liver. Moreover, in order to increase the feeling of fullness, some vegetarians will eat more carbohydrates such as rice, bread, and biscuits. Although they are not meat, they are not low in calories and can also be converted into fat and stored in the liver.

Therefore, it is not eating fat that causes fatty liver.

It should be noted that patients with fatty liver caused by bad lifestyle habits such as high-oil and high-fat diet and lack of exercise often have "obesity fatty liver", which can be reversed by "healthy diet and exercise". However, if a person who eats a normal diet but is underweight has fatty liver, it is often "nutritional fatty liver". The cause of the disease is relatively complex, often accompanied by chronic digestive diseases, and is prone to problems such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia. At this time, adjusting lifestyle alone is no longer enough to reverse fatty liver. It is recommended to pay attention to the general condition, seek medical treatment as early as possible, and prescribe the right medicine.