The liver plays a key role in keeping your body healthy, and the food choices you make can help or hinder the performance of this vital organ. For example, choosing foods high in dietary fiber and vitamins C and E can help keep your liver healthy, while drinking a lot of alcohol or eating foods high in saturated fat can affect it.
New evidence suggests that stick to the Mediterranean diet can help fight a common liver condition: fatty liver disease. At studypublished this month in the magazine nutrients, researchers examined a group of more than 1,400 participants aged 65 and older, assessing their liver fat content and their adherence to the Mediterranean diet. (RELATED: The 100 unhealthiest foods on the planet)
Not only did they find that adhering more to this diet was associated with lower liver fat content, but also eating more red and processed meats and drinking more alcohol were associated with higher fat content in the liver. So stick to White meat and plant-based protein and reduced alcohol consumption may also have a positive effect on the liver.
Fatty liver disease (known to scientists as hepatic steatosis) is often “a silent disease with few or no symptoms,” according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the US Department of Health and Human Services., part of the National Institutes of Health. If you experience symptoms, fatty liver disease can cause abdominal pain or fatigue. People with this condition have a higher risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, among other health problems.
Related: What happens to your body with the Mediterranean diet
Mediterranean diet includes all the nutrient-rich dietary stars like beans, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and whole grains. According to the American Heart Association, also involves getting fat primarily from olive oil, as well as eat dairy, eggs, and poultry in moderation and very little, if any, red meat.
“One of the results of our analysis was that, in the older population in our study, the higher the adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the lower the risk of fatty liver,” said first author Luisa Lampignano. Eat this, not that! on behalf of lead author Rodolfo Sardone MsBE, AuD, MPH. “However, we show that, [even when they had] good adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the subjects who consumed more Red meat and wine had a higher risk of fatty liver.
Lampignano added that more longitudinal (ie, long-term) studies and randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings.
“Lasting lifestyle changes rarely happen overnight,” Kelly Toups, MLA, RD, LDN, director of nutrition for the nonprofit old ways, He said Eat this, not that!. “Take things one step at a time, cooking with olive oil instead of butter or margarine, or incorporating more whole grains, for example, letting the delicious flavors of Mediterranean cuisine lead the way.”
For ways to start exploring the Mediterranean diet at home, check out the The 15 best recipes of the Mediterranean diet. And to get all the latest food and health news delivered straight to your email inbox every day, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
