editorial comment/note
Fatty liver has become the second largest liver disease after viral hepatitis in China. According to the epidemiological survey in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the incidence of fatty liver in the local area is 15% ~ 20%. According to the conservative estimate of the national incidence rate of 18%, the number of people with fatty liver in China is 234 million, with an average age of only 40 years, and more and more patients are around 30 years old. The average incidence of fatty liver in some occupational groups (white-collar workers, taxi drivers, professional managers, individual owners, government officials, senior intellectuals, etc.) is 25%; The incidence of fatty liver in obese people and patients with type 2 diabetes is 50%; The incidence of fatty liver in sub-health people who often suffer from insomnia, fatigue and gastrointestinal dysfunction reaches 60%.
Experts pointed out that fatty liver is related to bad eating habits such as drinking, high-fat diet, convenience food, fried food and snacks. In addition, the fast pace of life of modern people and the reduction of exercise are also important reasons. Experts remind that although most patients with fatty liver usually have no bad feelings, they should pay attention to it to avoid falling into five common misunderstandings, and incorporate healthy diet management and reasonable exercise into their daily lives to prevent and control the occurrence and development of fatty liver and avoid fatty hepatitis and even cirrhosis.
■ Smell and sing
Recently, when attending a class reunion, a group of middle-aged people mentioned the fact that many people were diagnosed with mild or moderate fatty liver every year, not only these working middle-aged people, but even young people in their twenties and thirties are constantly joining the ranks, which makes everyone confused. Is there something wrong with our daily life?
At present, it is an indisputable fact that the incidence of fatty liver is getting higher and younger. According to the epidemiological survey in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the local incidence of fatty liver is 15% ~ 20%. According to the conservative estimate of the national incidence of 18%, the number of people suffering from fatty liver in China is 234 million.
If you don’t drink, eat meat or get fat, why can you get fatty liver?
Hu Chengheng, chief physician of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Province, pointed out that fatty liver has become the second largest liver disease after viral hepatitis in China. The average incidence of fatty liver in some occupational groups (white-collar workers, taxi drivers, professional managers, individual owners, government officials, senior intellectuals, etc.) is 25%; The incidence of fatty liver in obese people and patients with type 2 diabetes is 50%; The incidence of fatty liver in alcoholics and alcoholics was 58%. The incidence of fatty liver in sub-health people who often suffer from insomnia, fatigue and gastrointestinal dysfunction reaches 60%. In recent years, the age of people with fatty liver has been declining, the average age is only 40 years old, and there are more and more patients around 30 years old, and the fatty liver in men under 45 years old is obviously more than that in women.
As we all know, fatty liver is equated with drinking and high-fat diet, but what puzzles many people is why they get into this disease when they obviously don’t drink and eat meat very much. Cai Haodong, chief physician of beijing ditan hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, believes that not drinking alcohol can also lead to liver diseases, and the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver is 9% ~ 46%. Most of them are simple fatty liver, mostly asymptomatic, and there is no inflammatory change in the liver, so the liver function is normal and the condition is stable.
Yuan Xiaoying, chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology, Chongqing Ninth People’s Hospital, believes that fatty liver is first related to diet. Nowadays, people’s lives are getting richer and richer, and it is inevitable that they will touch alcohol and high-fat food in their diet. However, modern people like to stay up late and work overtime, and they have to add meals at night when they work overtime, which are often convenience foods, fried foods and snacks. These are all bad eating habits; In addition, modern people have a fast pace of life, do not have much time to go out for exercise, and the amount of exercise is reduced, which is also the reason why the onset age of fatty liver is getting younger and younger and the incidence rate is getting higher and higher.
Because many people who have been diagnosed with fatty liver have no bad feelings, they don’t really care. Shi Lei, deputy chief physician of hepatobiliary surgery in Xi ‘an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, reminded that doctors advocate early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment of fatty liver, especially steatohepatitis, which is not a simple fatty liver, but accompanied by inflammatory activities of the liver, and the hardness of the liver is also increasing. If not actively treated, fatty liver can also develop into cirrhosis, causing adverse consequences.
Fatty liver is a common "five misunderstandings". Have you been recruited?
Zhao Gan, a nutritionist at Beijing You ‘an Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, reminds you that even if you usually pay great attention to diet and health care, you may walk into the following five misunderstandings about fatty liver.
Myth 1: Fatty liver is neither painful nor itchy, so you can leave it alone. Fatty liver is mainly divided into alcoholic fatty liver and nonalcoholic fatty liver, and mild fatty liver is easier to cure. However, if it develops to a serious stage, it may also lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Even with active treatment, the diseased liver is unlikely to return to normal.
Myth 2: Only obese people get fatty liver, but thin people don’t. Fatty liver is not a "patent" for fat people. Some office workers are sedentary, resulting in excessive visceral fat and central obesity. Although their limbs are not fat and their trunks are not bloated, they are exposed as soon as they take off their clothes, and they are also prone to fatty liver.
Myth 3: Fatty liver is eaten, and you only need to control your diet. To get fatty liver, you don’t just need to control your diet. You also need to quit smoking and drinking and strengthen exercise. Exercise is an important way to treat fatty liver, especially for obese friends. Generally, low-intensity aerobic exercise is more suitable, such as brisk walking, jogging and swimming. However, it should not be too intense. If the amount of exercise is too large, it may affect the liver function and aggravate the condition.
Myth 4: Fatty liver patients eat more fruits, the better. Fresh fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is rich in dietary fiber. Regular consumption is good for health, but the more you eat, the better. Because of the high sugar content of fruit, eating too much for a long time can lead to the increase of blood sugar and blood lipid, and even induce obesity. In addition, eating only fruits and vegetables instead of staple food will make patients with fatty liver more hungry, have disordered metabolism and unstable blood sugar level, which will aggravate fatty liver. Therefore, people with fatty liver should not eat more fruits, just in moderation, and should choose to eat between meals.
Myth 5: Fast weight loss can reduce fatty liver. Some obese friends have fatty liver, and often take "hunger therapy" to lose weight quickly. In fact, losing weight too fast is often harmful. If it exceeds the metabolic capacity of the body, it will damage the liver function and aggravate the condition. For most patients, the reasonable weight loss goal is about 0.5 kg/week.
With fatty liver, how to scientifically "shut up"?
Zhao Yaping, a nutritionist at Beijing You ‘an Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, believes that in the occurrence of fatty liver, dietary behavior is the first to bear the brunt, and managing food intake has become the most important thing to prevent and control the occurrence and development of fatty liver.
1. Dining system. 4-5 meals a day, 3 main meals and 1-2 extra meals. You can eat fruits and vegetables, yogurt and nuts during meals, so that you won’t be too hungry to eat too many calories at one time, and effectively control your appetite and food intake.
2. Slow down the meal. Eating slowly can reduce the amount of meals and increase the satisfaction after meals. There are many ways to slow down the meal, such as adding a pause in the middle, reducing the volume of each bite of food and increasing the number of chews. A study among men in China shows that chewing 40 times before swallowing can reduce the amount of meals by 11.9% compared with chewing 15 times.
3. Appropriately increase the intake of protein. High-protein foods make people feel fuller than foods rich in carbohydrates, thus suppressing appetite. This minimal effect on hunger helps to reduce the overall energy intake. High-protein foods mainly include four categories: meat (poultry, livestock, fish and shrimp, etc.), eggs, milk and soybeans.
4. Appropriately increase dietary fiber intake. Dietary fiber is easy to produce satiety, and at the same time, it can slow down the emptying speed of food in the stomach and maintain a longer satiety. Foods rich in dietary fiber include oats, corn, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, green leafy vegetables and low-sugar fruits. Oats, corn and sweet potatoes can be used to replace polished rice flour and whole wheat bread instead of ordinary bread in food collocation.
5. Reasonable eating order. Eat the big one first, then eat the small one; Eat liquid first, then eat solid; Eat low-calorie food first, then high-calorie food. Vegetables are large and low-calorie foods and should be eaten in front; Soups are easy to feel full and can be drunk before meals; Meat and staple food are high in calories and can be eaten at the back.
6. Healthy drinking water. It is suggested that you can choose boiled water, light tea, etc., and refuse sugary drinks and juice. Because fruit juice has high sugar content and good taste, it is easy to "drink addiction" and drink too much, which is not conducive to controlling calorie intake.