Poor Unhappy Liver

 

Would you believe if I told you, the next global epidemic is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)??

● NAFLD affects up to 30% of people in the United States.

● 1 in 3 adults.

● Affects 70 Million adults.

I will get into detail of NAFLD in just a minute.

First. Let’s talk about the liver…

The liver is the second largest organ in your body and is located under your rib cage on the right side. It weighs just under 3 pounds!

The liver performs many jobs in your body. It detoxifies the blood to rid it of harmful substances such as alcohol and drugs. It stores the sugar-glucose. It processes what you eat and drink into energy and nutrients your body can use. Sounds important right??

What is NAFLD? Fatty deposits in the liver result in a disease spectrum from simple steatosis with NO symptoms through to NASH>>Fibrosis>>>Cirrhosis, which can result in liver failure.

Basically NAFLD is an accumulation of fat in the hepatocytes or liver cells in excessive amounts.

The fats are typically triglycerides that the body naturally stores and creates from calories that it doesn’t need right away. A person who is active and eats healthy will normally burn these fats off for energy.

However, if the body is overwhelmed with excessive calories and lack of physical activity-They accumulate in the liver. The liver then becomes UNHAPPY L.

Good new? Exercise and nutritional improvements can fend off and reverse NAFLD.

Bad news: It is largely asymptomatic before it begins causing problems.

WHO IS AT RISK FOR FATTY LIVER DISEASE?? NAFLD tends to develop in people who are overweight or obese or have diabetes, high cholesterol or high triglycerides. Rapid weight loss and poor eating habits also may lead to NAFLD.

Fight Disease with Plant Based Eating

“Studies indicate that vegetarians often have lower morbidity and mortality rates…Scientific data suggest positive relationships between a vegetarian diet and reduced risk for…obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and some types of cancer.”

- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets

 

                  

Hello everyone!!!! Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? Read on…

Diet can have a powerful impact on many aspects of our health. I believe there is a growing trend toward understanding the health benefits of eating whole plants instead of animal and processed foods. In-fact, over the past year I have taken it into my hands to get off blood pressure medication and try to heal my body through whole, plant based foods. 

I am now off blood pressure medication.  Eating a plant based diet and feeling better than ever.

Listen here!! A significant convergence of evidence suggests that plant-based diets can help prevent and even reverse some of the top killer diseases in the Western world and can be more effective than medication and surgery.

 What is Plant Based Nutrition? Plant based nutrition is exactly what it sounds like. Meals and snacks are focused around plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes rather than animal products such as meat, dairy items, or eggs.

I believe that now; Smoking in 1956 is like eating in 2016.

 The understanding that nutrition plays a critical role in health and wellness isn’t new!

For thousands of years, plants and plant foods have been used to treat and prevent illness and disease.

You can be very strict and go Vegan-which is NO animal products. I have not been able to go to that side yet, however I am proud to call myself a “Flexitarian”.   I base all my meals around fruits and veggies but I still eat animal products occasionally.

 Polls are done periodically and show that plant-based eating and interest in vegetarianism are growing. Recent results from 2016 show Vegans/Vegetarians are now up to 16 million in US.

 There are thousands of studies out there showing the connection of plant based eating and chronic diseases.  

*One Swedish study found that women who ate more than 3.6 ounces of meat each day were 42% more likely to have a stroke than those who ate less than 1 ounce.

*A plant-based meal plan appears to decrease cancer risk perhaps due to the healthy fiber, vitamins, and minerals that it includes, or perhaps because of the harmful substances in red and processed meats that it eliminates.

*Overall, studies showed significant reductions in cancer risk among those who avoided meat. Harvard studies showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat.

Bottom line: EAT MORE VEGGIES.