Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver in people who drink little or no alcohol. It’s usually seen in people living with obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Early-stage NAFLD does not usually cause any harm, but it can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it gets worse.
No drugs are available to treat the condition; so diet and lifestyle changes are among the most effective management strategies. Specifically, experts say increased intake of garlic and ginger can also protect against obesity-triggered nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
In a meta-analysis to explore the influence of ginger supplementation versus placebo on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, researchers said that ginger supplementation can provide additional benefits to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
No medication is available to reverse the fat buildup in the liver. In some cases, the liver damage stops or even reverses itself. But in others, the disease continues to progress. But it’s important to control any conditions that may contribute to fatty liver disease.
Ginger is widely used worldwide as a spice, and demonstrated some efficacy to treat neurological diseases, diabetes, rheumatism, gingivitis, toothache, asthma, constipation, maldigestion, nausea and vomiting.
Four randomised controlled trials involving 177 patients were included in the meta-analysis published in the 2023 edition of the journal African Health Sciences. The doses of ginger supplementation ranged from 1000 mg daily to 1500 mg daily.
Overall, compared with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, ginger supplementation was associated with significantly reduced alanine aminotransferase (ALT), homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, but revealed no obvious impact on aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), or body mass index (BMI).
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a liver enzyme, and high levels can indicate liver damage. The homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) is a convenient method to measure insulin resistance while a high level of Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) is a sign of liver damage, but it can also mean that there is damage to another organ that makes it, like the heart or kidneys.
The researchers said that ginger supplementation exerted an important beneficial effect on liver function and insulin resistance for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as evidenced by the significantly reduced ALT and HOMA-IR.
The fundamental role of insulin resistance is found in fat accumulation of liver, and the increase in insulin sensitivity is very promising against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
They suggested that the beneficial effect of ginger supplementation on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is because ginger has substantial ability to improve insulin sensitivity to body fat and transformation of cholesterol to bile acids.
Research published found that garlic powder may potentially lead to significant reductions in LDL (bad) cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and the severity of liver fat accumulation. This study showed that, with other interventions like weight loss and physical activity, NAFLD patients could potentially see improvements in their liver health.
Additional research, like a 2019 study, demonstrates that eating raw garlic seven or more times each week could result in as much as a 29 percent lower risk of developing NAFLD.
One study demonstrated that taking 500 milligrams of green tea extract daily might significantly reduce liver damage markers in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Another study also found that the same amount of green tea extract improved liver damage markers and inflammatory markers in participants with NAFLD.
Moreover, research in the Journal of Sheikh Zayed Medical College (JSZMC), said walnuts, Soy protein, broccoli, black seeds and green tea contain chemical substances that may have a part to play in treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Both green tea and black seeds have beneficial effects on all those risk factors which are associated with NAFLD in various clinical studies such as improvement in metabolic syndrome, blood pressure, and weight gain, and lipid profiles.
A 2016 animal study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that the long-term consumption of broccoli helped prevent the buildup of fat in murine livers.
Other than being just a pick-me-up in the mornings, coffee is also very helpful in treatment of fatty liver disease. Coffee’s properties help remove the enzymes that cause harm to the liver cells. In particular, it stimulates the production of liver enzymes believed to fight inflammation.
Coffee is especially helpful for people that have alcoholic fatty liver disease. Black coffee is the best option, as it doesn’t contain any added fat or sugar. Having two cups a day may be quite helpful; it’s not a cure, but it can help to lower the risk of liver disease.
Besides, other herbs and spices for better liver health include ginseng, milk thistle, licorice and dandelion. Milk thistle contains silymarin, an antioxidant that helps to protect the liver from damage, while dandelion is a liver-supporting herb that stimulates the production of bile, which helps to flush out toxins from the liver.
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