To control fatty liver, should we eat less staple food or less meat?

A friend told me that he was only in his early forties but already had fatty liver . The doctor said that if it was not controlled, it would soon develop into moderate fatty liver.

He asked me: What should I eat less? Should I eat less staple food and more meat? I heard that eating carbohydrates will synthesize triglycerides, but eating meat will not?

I said: Many people do think so, but for fatty liver, this may not be the case.

Generally speaking, when carbohydrate intake increases, triglycerides in the blood are more likely to rise, but this rise can be reversed by increasing exercise. Therefore, those who eat more staple food, less meat, but have a lot of physical activity will not have problems such as high blood lipids and fatty liver. Look at those porters, trackers, and construction workers, they are usually muscular and lean.

On the contrary, when fat intake increases, free fatty acids in the blood increase, insulin resistance increases, and average blood sugar levels are more likely to rise. If you eat a lot of meat, unless you are very thin and dry, it will inevitably bring more fat, which is not conducive to controlling blood sugar levels and is not conducive to weight loss in the long run. Look at those people who sit at the table for two or three hours. Although they rarely eat staple foods, their stomachs are usually soft and swollen, and many of them have fatty liver problems.

However, in the liver, fat synthesis does not mainly come from carbohydrates. A metabolic study published in Science magazine last year found that the carbon source for fat synthesis in the liver mainly comes from amino acids. Researchers found that the energy source that liver cells prefer to use most is amino acids. Animal experiments have found that, based on the same amount, the liver's effect of synthesizing fat with amino acids is 6 times that of synthesizing fat with glucose.

More carbohydrates promote the synthesis of liver glycogen and inhibit the synthesis of liver fat. On the contrary, people with fatty liver will have insulin resistance, reduced liver glycogen synthesis, and are prone to high blood sugar and hunger.

The researchers also found that if experimental animals with fatty liver were fed a low-protein diet, their fatty liver would be significantly improved, their weight would be reduced, and their inflammatory response would also be reduced.

He said: Ah, so eating more meat and less rice will increase protein, but it will promote fatty liver?

I said: This is indeed possible. This study suggests that if we eat too much protein, which exceeds the body's needs, the excess amino acids may actually promote liver fat synthesis .

Do you eat very little meat on a daily basis? Do you eat a lot of staple foods?

He said: I don't eat less meat. I have had more dinners in recent years, so I definitely eat more meat and less rice, and sometimes I have to drink some wine when I attend social events.

I said: So have you gained weight or lost weight?

He said: I am getting fatter and fatter.

I said: Right. It can be seen that eating less can not make you lose weight .

Let me ask you again, do you feel sleepy after meals?

He said: Yes, I feel very sleepy after lunch now. I can’t work in the afternoon without taking a nap.

I said: This means that your blood sugar level after a meal is not good. People with fatty liver are particularly prone to this situation.

Your liver already has too much fat and is insulin resistant. If you only eat white rice, white flour buns, and white flour noodles, it will be very difficult to control your blood sugar after meals.

You may consider rearranging your diet: add some whole grains, reduce meat, use less oil when cooking vegetables, rinse oily dishes with hot water before eating. Try not to drink alcohol. Following this diet plan, your fatty liver may gradually improve.

He said: I can try to drink less alcohol. However, it is difficult to eat whole grains when eating lunch in restaurants and cafeterias. How can I control my blood sugar after meals?

I said: You can bring some whole grain staple foods with you. Bring them to work in an ice pack or a heat pack, and then heat them in the microwave. There are many whole grain staple food products for sale online, such as whole grain steamed bread, whole grain pancakes, oatmeal rice, whole wheat steamed bread, etc. Choose a few and try them out. Find the whole grain product that will not make you sleepy after meals and not hungry before meals, and then use it as your lunch staple food for a long time.

He said: You said exercise can reduce fat. I walk for 30 minutes every day, but I am not losing weight.

I said: If you don't walk for 30 minutes, you may get fatter. Besides, 30 minutes of walking can only consume about 100 kcal of energy , and it is easy to eat 200 kcal more with just a big meal.

Besides, if you walk slowly, you can’t reach the heart rate level of aerobic exercise, so the effect of burning fat is relatively weak. The lower the intensity, the longer it takes to burn the same amount of calories .

He said: Our CEO has always maintained a good figure. His office is quite spacious and has some small fitness equipment. I heard that he would do various exercises in the room whenever he has some free time.

I said: You should take your boss as an example. For example, if you have a few minutes of free time before a meeting or a few minutes of waiting before a meal, you should find an opportunity to move around. Climb the stairs, jump, lift dumbbells, do push-ups and planks... Even if you sit still in a meeting, you can do abdominal breathing and reverse abdominal breathing, move your calves and do sewing machine exercises to activate your diaphragm and soleus muscles.

In short, do whatever you can. Even if you only exercise for a few minutes a few times a day, it will add up over time and make a big difference.

Remember to take a walk after lunch and after dinner. Do more housework at home and go hiking on weekends . Wear a sports bracelet and make sure your total steps exceed 10,000 steps per day. As long as you stick to it, the fat in your body will gradually be consumed, and the fat in your liver will also gradually decrease.

At the same time, don't forget to reduce mental stress and avoid staying up late , which may increase the risk of fatty liver.

I hope that when I see you next year, your belly will be noticeably smaller. Come on, I believe you can do it!

Finally, I will summarize the life improvement suggestions I gave to my friends into points and say them again:

(1) Add whole grains to your staple food

Please note that you can't eat as much white rice, white flour and bread as you want. You can use oats, oatmeal, brown rice (including red rice, black rice, etc.), millet, sorghum rice, highland barley, barley, red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and other ingredients to replace some of the refined white staple food. You can also use steamed sweet potatoes, steamed potatoes and steamed yams without oil to replace some of the rice and steamed bread.

(2) Do not add oil, salt, or sugar to your staple food. Do not eat fried dough sticks, fried cakes, or sesame cakes. Sweets and desserts are counted as part of your staple food, but you should not eat them on a daily basis.

(3) Reduce the amount of meat that is already too much. Delicious meat almost always contains a lot of fat. You can replace some pork, beef, and mutton with skinless chicken and steamed fish. The amino acids produced by the decomposition of excessive protein will be converted into sugar and fat through the deamination pathway. New research has confirmed that amino acids are very efficient in promoting fat synthesis, especially in the liver.

(4) Eat more vegetables. It is best to eat a small bowl of vegetables before meals. However, use less oil when cooking. If there is too much oil in the vegetables, rinse them off with hot water.

(5) Go to fewer banquets and social events, and try not to drink alcohol. Do not use sweet drinks instead of alcohol to toast. If you have the habit of drinking sweet drinks, be sure to give it up.

(6) Increase exercise effectively. Use every ten minutes of free time to exercise. Walk instead of sitting. Take at least 10,000 steps a day. Walking 10,000 steps with the correct posture will not hurt your knees. In addition, do at least 30 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise every day (buy a sports bracelet, which will help you to remind you of the intensity of exercise). Go for a long walk or mountain climbing on weekends, and do exercise that lasts for more than an hour.

Simple fatty liver is reversible . Even if the liver fat returns to normal after half a year of hard work, the fat will return as long as you stop working hard and return to your old lazy habits.

Main references:

Chen J, Zhou Y, Liu Z, et al. Hepatic glycogenesis antagonizes lipogenesis by blocking SIP via UDPG. Science, 2024, 383:6684.