Protein against fatty liver

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Most type 2 diabetics develop fatty liver. Thanks to a simple nutritional strategy, the organ can recover: a protein-rich diet allows the liver to lose weight significantly within a few weeks - even if the patient does not lose weight. This also improves the sugar metabolism.

More and more people develop fatty liver. Obesity and diabetes have long since replaced alcohol as the main cause of fatty liver disease. But just like alcohol-related, so-called non-alcoholic fatty liver can turn into life-threatening liver cirrhosis. In addition, it worsens the sugar metabolism in diabetics. "If left untreated, fatty liver is a pacemaker for type 2 diabetes," explains Andreas Pfeiffer from the German Institute for Nutritional Research (DIfE).

Together with colleagues, the nutritionist has investigated whether the condition of the liver can be improved through diet - more precisely with the help of a protein-rich diet. For this purpose, the researchers recruited 37 men and women with type 2 diabetes between the ages of 49 and 78 years. Most of them also had fatty liver disease.

Protein-rich diet

For six weeks, all participants received a diet with a calorie content of 30 percent from protein. In half of the participants, animal products such as lean meat or dairy products provided the proteins. The second group received meals with foods that were specially fortified with vegetable protein, such as pasta or bread that contained pea proteins.

Stripped liver

In order to rule out that a possible reduction in liver fat was due to weight loss, the calorie content of the meals was determined individually for each participant.

Although the participants did not lose any weight as a result, the fat content of their livers decreased by 36 to 48 percent. This had a positive effect on the liver and fat metabolism. The participants' insulin sensitivity also improved again. This lack of sensitivity of the body's cells to the sugar-releasing hormone insulin is the central disease mechanism in type 2 diabetes. If the response of the cells to insulin improves again, they take up more glucose from the blood and the blood sugar level returns to normal.

Vegetable and animal protein are equally effective

The positive effect was evident in all participants - regardless of whether their protein-rich diet was based on vegetable or animal protein. Since previous studies had found indications that a protein-rich diet can put stress on the kidneys, the researchers also turned their attention to these organs: "We did not observe any negative effects on kidney function," says Mariya Markova, the first author of the study.

Fatty liver - silent danger

In fatty liver, the liver cells store more fat and the organ increases in size. Such obesity is initially not dangerous. In the long term, however, the structure of the liver changes: more connective tissue is formed and the organ scars and can no longer work properly. So-called cirrhosis of the liver develops, which is potentially life-threatening and cannot regress.

Studies have shown that 30 percent of the population already have fatty liver. It is around 70 percent of diabetics, and 90 percent of obese people are affected.

Source: Mariya Markova et al .: Isocaloric Diets High in Animal or Plant Protein Reduce Liver fat and Inflammation in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes, Gastroenterology, published online: October 17, 2016

Tags:  book tip toadstool poison plants therapies