Nutrition Superstition: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
As we enter a new year, we should reflect on our past to see how our present became the foundation for our future.
We have been through a lot and we have coped with adversity differently throughout this year and previously.
Some individuals have put their energy into learning a new hobby. Some became creative at doing home workouts. Others have eaten more bad foods than they should have. Even more, may have gained weight and significantly decreased their activity levels.
No matter who you are, your activity levels, your knowledge base, or your background, we need to be aware of the rising incidences of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).
Dine-in restaurants being shut down, lack of physical activity because the gyms are closed, depression from enforced isolation, working longer hours in front of a computer are all recipes for a disastrous storm that has taken its toll across America and the world.
As a result, we are seeing the metabolic consequences of our “enforcements” and the detrimental health outcomes from long periods of restricted activity and fast food consumption.
Covid is not the killer we should be afraid of, our metabolic health and wellbeing is one that will slowly kill us and accelerate our demise.
Covid WILL NOT BE as deadly if we were metabolically healthy. Don’t believe me? Which demographic does this virus seem to ransac?
Healthy individuals?
Nope.
People with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, elderly and cardiac issues?
Yup.
Those groups of people are individuals who have higher insulin resistance, eat a poorer diet, and lack activity levels.
So instead of creating a vaccine, why don’t we create an exercise and nutrition regimen to actually help our society instead of throw another bandaid on the situation?
I digress, however, focusing on nutrition (or lack thereof) has lead to a nation growing in fatty liver disease from lack of activity and poor nutrition.
The Chicken or the Egg?
It is fascinating how one problem can expose so many others, as long as we are willing to listen.
As we read previously, we have a metabolic condition running rampant through the world and we are turning a blind eye to it.
I mean, just think back to the 1950s or Google a picture of what was considered obese then, versus what is obese now.
Pretty startling, right?
Well, we took a turn towards convenience, ease of access, and taste.
We are eating more heavily processed foods than ever before and we are suffering the consequences.
Our liver is such a vital organ, yet is very underrated for everything it does to keep us healthy and living longer.
There are so many functions to list (500 to be exact), so I will list a few of the very important ones.
For example, it helps break down or convert substances, helps balance energy metabolism, creates energy from glycogen, metabolizes drugs, produces bile, and helps remove excess toxins.
Not exactly an easy job to do!
Now imagine how you would feel if your liver is struggling to achieve all those tasks throughout the day?
Bloated, trunk obesity, fatigue, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol, decreased drive, mental fog, poor sleep?
Enter NAFLD!
It’s As Easy As 1,2,3!
- Remove the carbs
- Move more
- Eat real foods
Now let’s break these down a bit more so we have a better understanding of the reasoning behind why these steps work.
Highly refined carbohydrates will be the death of us. They are unapologetically processed, contain insurmountable toxins, make us insulin resistant, and create more fructose than our body knows what to do with!
Fructose is bounded to glucose in the Standard American Diet (SAD) that is directly absorbed into the blood during the digestion of foods.
Keep in mind that in the early 1900s, the average American would consume about 15 grams of fructose a day- and that was primarily from fruits and veggies.
In the 2000’s we eat roughly 75 grams in a day- mostly from weights, sodas, fruit drinks, and condiments.
So what does Fructose actually do to the liver? Buckle up kids, it’s going to get FAT!
The liver uses fructose to create fat- also known as lipogenesis. Overconsumption of fructose causes more fat to accumulate in the liver cells.
Beyond that, it increases triglycerides (cholesterol), increases visceral fat (fat around organs), increases blood pressure, increases cardiovascular workload.
Hence, we remove the carbs that contain higher than godly amounts of fructose and we take the biggest step in the road to recovery!
I Like to Move it Move it
Since our Standard American Diet is PAD (Pathetic and Dumb) we need to do something to get rid of the excess fuel we consume daily.
Like I have stated previously, our bodies are not as dumb as we think. There are numerous metabolic processes occurring several times throughout the day that we are completely ignorant of.
Just because we cannot tell when our body makes new red blood cells or converts what we eat into energy sources, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
Look at a car, for example. There are several moving pieces that work harmoniously together to get the end result. A vehicle that moves us. Not a lot of people, with the exception of a mechanic, know the inner workings of a motor.
Those bits work in creating energy, which helps move the car and gets us to where we want to go.
Health care providers are like the mechanics of the body. We know the inner workings and try to fix what is broken because we know the physiology of how things are supposed to work.
When we consume excess fuel in the form of fats or sugars (AKA fast food, eating at restaurants, consuming not real foods) we store that excess fuel for later use.
If we don’t use that fuel (because we don’t move and exercise) that fuel hangs out in our fat cells and we create a whole new slew of issues for ourselves.
We used to live in food scarcity, now we excel at food abundance.
What happened to eating three square, nutritious meals a day, and doing hard work? Farmers got it figured out. We lost our way from performing manual labor and having satisfaction from a job well done.
Farmers get up early, put in a hard day’s work, eat real food from the farm, move because their livelihood counts on it, then sleep like a log from all the natural sunlight and physical activity.
Why is that so difficult?
Why can’t we be prideful in our journey? Why can’t we put in hard work and eat the right foods?
Why is it excuse after excuse after excuse?
Eating a Strawberry the Size of a Softball is Not Real Food!
Ever gone to a store and bought a batch of fruit and you thought to yourself, “Wow, those are so big?”
Well, that’s your intuition speaking and you should listen to it.
Fruits that are larger than life itself are not real! They have been created with GMO’s and are the furthest thing from something we should be consuming daily.
Remember, bigger isn’t always better.
Think back to our farmers. They got a lot of things right, but our society is dictating things differently and causing them to change a proven system.
Due to the demand for more food all the time, they have to create a fatter cut of steak. To make their profit margins improved, they feed their cattle corn and soy.
Farmers aren’t dumb. They know those products fatten up their produce. Do you know what happens to us when we eat something that was fed strictly corn and soy?
Yup, we get fat because we are then eating corn and soy.
That is why what we eat is feed is equally important. I mean you wouldn’t go catch a fish that lives in a small pond and swims with a thousand of its closest relatives and their feces, would you?
The same concept goes. We need to understand where our food comes from so we know what we are putting in our bodies as fuel.
To summarize, we must heavily restrict the highly processed carbohydrates. We must MOVE! We must eat real food products.
It’s not rocket science. It’s people science and we have a very good idea of how it works.
Listen to your body, give it what it needs to thrive, and enjoy a fruitful, long life!
Be strong. Be brave.
