Liver health and weight loss are like two peas in a pod… the two go hand in hand. Liver function is crucial for weight loss as the liver regulates the energy demands of the body.
The liver is either storing food as energy or burning stored fat and glycogen. Too many calories coming in with not enough nutrients and time to burn stored fat can cause fatty liver.
To lose weight you need to reverse fatty liver and deplete the stored glycogen and fat in the liver.
How does fatty liver cause weight gain?
While the body is always burning a little fuel, it receives a lot of fuel at once with each meal. The liver has to store incoming fuel in the form and glycogen and triglycerides (fat) in the liver.
The liver acts as a pantry for your body storing vitamins, minerals fat, and sugar for a later date.
Your liver taps into stored glycogen between meals to maintain blood sugar balance.
A beautiful balance exists where you eat, store food as glycogen or fat then release stored fat as needed.
But, the liver can become overloaded with too much fuel coming in. As a result of too much fuel coming in it starts to become clogged and filled with triglycerides. Too much fat stored in the liver leads to fatty liver and insulin resistance.
When the liver becomes fatty there is no more room to store incoming food in the liver. So instead, the incoming fuel is stored as body fat causing weight gain.
This is how fatty liver causes weight gain.
Weight gain in the stomach is a sign of fatty liver thus reversing fatty liver is key to losing belly fat.
If you notice that your weight gain is in the stomach your liver is most likely fatty. To reverse fatty liver for weight loss the liver needs the opportunity to burn fat stores in the liver.
But, burning body fat for fuel becomes difficult when the liver is fatty. Before the body burns body fat, the body first burns through stored glycogen and fat in the liver.
To reduce fatty liver and lose weight it is important to not overwhelm the liver. Excessive food consumption, especially fried fatty foods are the worst for weight loss.
The liver is also responsible for detoxifying toxins in fat cells. Most often the body will not burn fat until the liver can detoxify the toxins stored in fat cells.
And the livers detoxification pathways need nutrients to detox toxins.
The key to reversing fatty liver for weight loss is to have a low caloric intake while also supporting the liver with nutrients needed to detox. Lowering the intake of calories will also allow the liver to tap into stored fat for energy.
When there is too much food volume and calories consumed the liver is always in storage mode. This results in the liver is not having the opportunity or time needed to detoxify and use stored fat as fuel.
To use stored glucose for fuel, nutrients such as the B vitamins, magnesium, and Coenzyme Q10 are required. L carnitine is a nutrient needed to transport fat so it can be burned for energy. All these nutrients help to produce energy in the body from stored fat and glycogen.
Most people are too busy filling up their bodies with junk food and not giving the liver enough nutrition and time to tap into fat for energy.
It is difficult to clean your house if you keep on bringing in more clutter and garbage… the same is true in our bodies. It is challenging for the liver to detox and burn stored fat for energy when the liver is busy with storing food.
Eating too much of any food especially refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and fats will burden the liver and hinder weight loss.
Ways to reverse fatty liver and lose weight
Allowing the liver to use its stored fat by fasting is one of the quickest ways to lose weight and reverse fatty liver. Although many people can struggle with fasting.
A detox shake helps to curb hunger while providing the liver with nutrients to detox for weight loss. Having a low-calorie shake full of micro-nutrients and amino acids is an easy way to jump-start weight loss.
Simply, mix a scoop of detox powder into a cup of nut milk with ice cubes and you’re done.
By replacing your morning meal with a detox shake you allow the liver to focus on detoxification. Consuming minimal calories also allows the liver to burn through excess glycogen and fat stores in the liver.
Fish oil is another great nutrient for weight loss as it has been shown to prevent fatty liver. Eating fish, flax seeds, and chia seeds are great sources of anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats.
Phosphatidylcholine is a key nutrient needed to transport fats out of the liver. If fats build up in the liver due to fats not being able to get transported out fatty liver can develop.
Phosphatidylcholine also promotes bile flow from a sluggish gallbladder. Good bile flow is crucial for liver detox and weight loss.
Your phase 3 liver detox is where your liver dumps the toxins ready for elimination into the bile. Phosphatidylcholine is a very important nutrient involved in phase 3 liver detoxification.
Think of phase 3 liver detoxification as the last doorway involved in liver detox. That detox door via bile flow from the gallbladder needs to be wide open.
Eating low-calorie nutrient-dense plant-based fruits and vegetables are great foods for weight loss. It is best to eat liver cleansing fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants. Blueberries are the highest antioxidant fruits for a fatty liver inflamed liver.
Fats are the most calorie-dense foods on the planet and overwhelm a fatty liver. Go easy on fats when reversing fatty liver for weight loss.
Using a detox shake, fasting, eating nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, foods high in choline, and omega 3 fats are the best way to reverse fatty liver for weight loss.
For more information on liver health and weight loss, I recommend reading The Metabolism Reset Diet by Alan Christianson
This matcha banana smoothie and blackberry smoothies are great for weight loss as well. Also, try one of these 7 healthy salads for low-calorie liver cleansing vegetables.
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