Liver Disease
What causes kidney disease?
Liver disease can be caused by many different factors. Due to the various forms of liver disease there is not one single profile of symptoms or causes that help with diagnosis. Some common risk factors of liver disease include:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Exposure to certain chemicals and toxins including prescription and over the counter medications, herbal medications/supplements and recreational drugs.
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Family history
- Exposure to hepatitis B or C virus in blood or bodily fluids.
- Chronic fatigue
How can Bites Dietitians help?
As the liver is important for many essential functions in the body, when it is affected and/or damaged some of these functions are inhibited or are not as efficient as a fully functioning and healthy liver. Chronic liver disease can be associated with a reduction in muscle mass and body mass. Due to this, our dietitians can assist in preventing further health consequences caused by liver disease by helping you to tweak your current dietary habits and increase certain nutrients. As liver disease progresses, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can occur which can lead to comorbidities such as osteoporosis and anaemia and we can help you to prevent these by ensuring adequate dietary intake is established. It might also be helpful to limit your sodium intake if you are experiencing symptoms such as ascites and oedema (excess fluid retention around the stomach, feet and legs). At Bites, our dietitians will treat you as a whole person and create a meal plan that helps you to manage the many facets of liver disease and any other health concerns you might have. Our dietitians will do our best to help you prevent your liver disease from progressing further and can also help you to manage any associated risk factors such as your weight, blood sugars (if you have diabetes), blood pressure (if you have hypertension) and improve your cholesterol levels if you would like to do so.
An interesting fact about diet and liver disease
A healthy liver contains very little or no fat at all. However, if you consume too much alcohol or eat in a calorie surplus, your body deals with this excess consumption by turning excess energy into fat. This fat is then stored in the liver cells. This fat within the liver cells can build up over time and this is what causes fatty liver disease. About 1 in 3 Australians have fatty liver disease and it is more common in people who have hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and those who are overweight or obese.
How can Bites Exercise Physiologists help?
Interestingly, physical activity has been shown to be related to the severity of fatty liver disease irrespective of body weight. Just changing your activity levels can improve fatty liver disease and both aerobic and resistance exercises can reduce liver fat levels. In terms of the science, exercise improves peripheral insulin resistance which reduces the excess delivery of fatty acids and glucose to the liver ie it stops the storage of extra fat and glucose. Exercise also increases fatty acid oxidation in the liver (increases the breakdown of liver fat) and also prevents mitochondrial and liver cell damage through reducing the molecules that are associated with the breakdown of cells. Our Exercise Physiologists are experts in prescribing exercise for liver conditions and can also make sure exercises are safe to perform if you have other conditions that are associated with liver disease such as hypertension, cardiac disease and/or diabetes.
What improvements can you expect from a tailored dietary and exercise prescription?
During your consultations our dietitians will chat to you about what markers you might like to keep track of along the way to measure progress. For example, if you have type 2 diabetes and have a blood glucose monitor at home you might like to track your blood glucose levels once a week as you begin to change your diet to see how your body is responding. If you’d like to work on your weight, we can accurately measure and track body composition such as weight and waist circumference. It’s also a good idea to periodically assess indicators of liver health with your GP or specialist such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase levels and/or perform liver scans to assess fatty infiltration of the liver.
Helpful things to bring/remember before your first appointment
- Pathology results
- Referral
- HbA1c, Fasting Glucose, Oral Glucose Tolerance Test results (OGTT) and insulin studies
- List of medications you are on and dosages
- Any medical history from your GP or specialist that might be helpful for us to know.
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