Can we cure or prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by doing detox treatments? Answer with a hepato-gastroenterologist, Dr Guillouche.
- 1 in 5 French people suffer from fatty liver disease, and 10 to 20% of them develop NASH, increasing the risks of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
- To prevent risks, detox cures are not the solution, explains the hepato-gastroenterologist: “the problem with detox is to make people believe that there are miraculous solutions to erase excesses. […] In the case of NASH, the most important thing is to fundamentally change your lifestyle.”
- Indeed, in 90% of cases of NASH, losing 10% of body weight would make steatohepatitis disappear.
10 million French people have excessively fatty livers, according to the latest estimates, and 10 to 20% of them develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), increasing the risks of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In recent years, the numbers have continued to increase and they are even expected to double by 2030! In question ? Junk food and a sedentary lifestyle. Indeed, the liver is an organ one of whose functions is to store, in the form of fat, excess energy provided by food. Consequently, when we regularly consume more sugar and fat than we expend, an imbalance is created, leading the liver to accumulate too much fat.
There are many options for detox cures for the liver, but are they really effective in protecting the organ? Hepato-gastroenterologist Dr Pauline Guillouche answers us.
Liver detox: “a very effective business, but not for the patient”
“The problem with detox is making people believe that there are miraculous solutions to erase excesses.”, the doctor immediately says. “It’s a very effective business, but not for the patient… Worse, detox in the form of capsules or others can even have interactions with a treatment that you have been prescribed!”
Plants such as milk thistle, artichoke, or even black radish can help stimulate the production of bile and therefore digestion, but “do not have this long-awaited role of “cleaning” the liver”.
“In the case of NASH, the most important thing is to fundamentally change your lifestyle.”
Limit carbohydrate consumption for a healthy liver
Currently, there are no medications to treat NASH. To regain a healthy liver, you must, on the one hand, find a balanced diet, by reducing your daily consumption of carbohydrates, and on the other hand, increase your physical activity. Weight loss associated with these measures generally makes it possible to slow down or even stop the disease: in 90% of cases, losing 10% of body weight would make steatohepatitis disappear.
“The management of NASH must also be multidisciplinary, that is to say it concerns your treating physician who remains at the heart of your care, the gastroenterologist, an endocrinologist in the case of associated diabetes, and a cardiologist to detect cardiovascular abnormalities”, underlines the specialist.
