Fatty liver
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gypsy8080
Posts: 25 Member
I tried low carb in the past, and it works for me, but I fell off the wagon. In October, I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver and a hiatal hernia, and had a slew of tests run. My gallbladder is also a problem as it's contracted and they're concerned it's not fully functioning. My primary care doctor is recommending mostly vegan foods and the FODMAP diet. She tells me to stay away from fat for my liver's sake. Can anyone give me their experience with keto and liver/gallbladder problems? My gut tells me I need to lose weight to fix this and that keto is the way, but my doctor is scaring me.
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I don't have personal experience but have seen several you tube videos that fatty liver is caused by carbs.4
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Here's one:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MdJnWps4kWU
Too many carbs, often in the presence of fat, will tend to get stored around the liver as fat. I believe too much fructose does not help either as the liver must process that... Sort of like how the liver must process alcohol.
If you eat at a calorie deficit, I imagine that would help. Otherwise eating very limited carbs has been proven to help nafld.
Good luck.6 -
Non-alcoholic fatty liver is commonly the result of too much fructose (and sucrose, since that is part fructose). As explained above, fructose is processed in the liver.5
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As above in midwesterner85's comment. Fructose is the big concern - I just re-read Gary Taubes "The Case Against Sugar." It reiterates that.0
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Here is my experience. I was at my current weight and was deferred as a blood donor because liver enzymes were high. This was 25 years ago. I went to my doctor who did a bunch of tests and told me I had NAFLD. He told me there were things that stressed the liver - tylenol and alcohol were on the bad list. He said there was nothing I could do about it. I completely stopped even social drinking. I stopped taking tylenol.
Since then, we have moved and the new doctor agreed with the NAFLD diagnosis and my liver enzymes were always high when I got my annual panel. He also said there was nothing I could do about it. They never gave me a special diet.
The panel after I started keto had liver enzymes in the high normal range. I thought this was just one of those testing things. The next one had me in the low normal range. The keto seems to have done wonders for my liver.
In the interests of full disclosure, I eat slightly lower fat than some people in keto. I try to keep fat grams under 100. I have been keto since October 2018, and I have adjusted my macros until I have found what worked for me. My fat is typically 50% of my total calories for the day. I keep net carbs under 20. I try to eat a gram of protein for every pound of lean body weight. This has been satisfying for me and easy to sustain.
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Sorry to hear your doctor is scaring you. I have NAFLD too. I suggest seeking out a second opinion. My doctor told me some people are just more genetically disposed to it than others. A person weighing over 300lbs may not have it, but a person weighing half that can. It's not fair, but it's life. She told me the best thing to do was lose pounds, maintain a healthy weight, and eat low carb. You can still die of old age with NAFLD without it causing any damage. So you're not harming your liver yet. Talk with another doctor, hopefully one that's current on medical research. I think you'll feel better about your situation.
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I listened to this episode this morning, the host doc mentioned how his patients have all cured NAFLD since going keto. The next episode is going to cover it in more detail. http://lowcarbmd.com/episode-9-dr-ethan-weiss
(also, Dr. Weiss plugs his latest breath tester gizmo, which looks overpriced...)1 -
NAFLD can be managed with a keto diet, however I am guessing the concern your doctor has is not the NAFLD as such, but your problematic gallbladder.
The role of the gallbladder is to store bile and concentrate it - the bile is then released in response to chemicals in your stomach. The problem with a keto diet that is high in fats is that the gallbladder will need to release more bile. This might be an issue in your case - if your gallbladder is not fully functioning, then this could lead to gallstones. So, the typical medical advice here is a low-fat/low cholesterol diet.
That said, there seems to be a bit of research underway at the moment indicating that the reverse might be true and that diets high in fat might actually be a decent treatment for gallstone disease.
I'm hesitant to suggest you go against the advice of your doctor but this might be worth having a look at:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/gallstones-and-low-carb0 -
You can do keto vegan, and you can do keto without the high quantities of fat if you have sufficient body fat to metabolize. It's harder to do it since that restricts available foods, but I started as vegan keto and was mostly vegetarian for a while too, so it can totally be done.
https://onnit.com/academy/vegan-keto-diet/0 -
I know! I read someones comment and saw my own start date was wrong. I need to proof things better before pressing "post reply."
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I've had a whole slew of issues lately trying to get my digestive enzymes right. I had my gallbladder out in December of 2000, and then I found the NOW Brand Super Digestive Enzymes, which changed my life. I had some other complicating factors, and slid back into Carbville, and the enzymes became too strong, getting me diagnosed with a hiatal hernia and other issues. So I dialed back and began using the Solarway Digestive Enzymes (less Betaine HCL, less Ox Bile - Porcine and less of it, and a few other differences) and I've done okay with those. I had to add in a bile binding acid for the beginnings of a peptic ulcer, but now that is all leveling back out since I dialed back to the other enzyme. As I shift back into the lower carb range, I'll have to go back to the higher level of enzyme.
I did experiment with Betaine HCL and apple cider vinegar on their own, but the NOW enzymes did me best will on full keto (on especially higher fat days, I even had to use 2 enzymes sometimes for optimal digestion). I would think that some research in this direction might help you, since your Gallbladder isn't functioning well at the moment. Depending on whether it can be healed, a low carb, higher fat diet is the long term "fix" for stones and low function - as long as there isn't disease or other infectious problems present, but only your doctor can tell you that...
Good luck!0
