Fatty liver is a term that frequently appears in modern health checkup reports. Naturally, fatty liver is not a good medical result, as it suggests the potential for more chronic diseases and even cancer in the future. Generally speaking, medical professionals categorize fatty liver disease into alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, in my experience, everyone experiences alcohol consumption at some point, so I prefer not to distinguish between the two types directly. Instead, I prefer to view it from the perspective of impact ratio, which is more realistic.
This article mainly discusses theNonalcoholic fatty liver disease】（Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD） part (because the solution to alcoholic fatty liver disease is... quit drinking...), the author hasthis articleWhile there's no direct medication to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, special nutritional supplements can be helpful. While there are some promising new medications in recent years (such as GLP-1 receptor agonists and Rezdiffra), they come at a high price and aren't a cure. Therefore, this article aims to offer lifestyle tips validated by large-scale, prospective clinical studies, helping everyone eliminate fatty liver disease from the root.
In 2024, a study published in the heavyweight nutrition journal "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"paperThe research team wanted to understand whether the intake of foods rich in flavonoids could prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Therefore, they used a large amount of basic data from the UK Biobank, which included 121,064 adults aged 40 to 69. The research team collected data through the Oxford WebQ 24-h dietary assessments and calculatedFlavonoid Diet Score (FDS)The score reflects the intake of foods rich in flavonoids (such as tea, apples, berries, grapes, onions, dark chocolate, etc.); in addition, the study used magnetic resonance imaging to measure imaging biomarkers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, including liver fat percentage and liver corrected T1 values (cT1 values), the latter of which is an indicator for assessing liver fibrosis and inflammation, in order to more accurately show the quantitative relationship.
After performing regression analysis and adjusting for confounding factors, the researchers found the following important conclusions:
1. Compared with participants in the lowest quartile (Q1) of the Flavonoid Dietary Score (FDS),Participants in the highest quartile (Q4) of FDS had a significantly lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by 19%, a significantly lower liver fat percentage by 5.28%, and a significantly lower cT1 value by 1.73%.
2. Among foods rich in flavonoids, high intake compared to low intakeapplewithTea, respectively, and were associated with a reduced risk of NAFLD 22% with 14% Related; High Uptakeapple,Teawithdark chocolateSignificantly associated with lower liver fat percentage; high intakeTeawithred pepperIt was significantly associated with lower cT1 values.
Therefore, based on the above, we can conclude that a diet with a higher Flavonoid Dietary Score (FDS) not only reduces the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) but also has a tangible, quantitative improvement in the progression of NAFLD (liver fat percentage, cT1 value). Furthermore, research has shown that the most effective foods are apples and tea. Both are affordable and readily available, making them ideal for everyone to incorporate into their daily lives! Having read this, I wonder if you've also noticed that the saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" actually holds true!
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉