Fatty liver: Homeopathic Treatment

Treatment for Fatty liver

Treatment for fatty liver is challenging and not often successful. There are no medications specifically for fatty liver disease. Instead, doctors focus on helping you control factors contributing to the condition. They also recommend making lifestyle changes that can significantly improve your health.

Lifestyle changes are one of the fatty liver treatments. You must eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and exercise regularly to prevent fatty liver disease.  Lifestyle changes and treatment for a fat liver include:

  • Avoiding alcohol.
  • Losing weight.
  • Taking medications to control diabetes, cholesterol, and triglycerides (fat in the blood).
  • Taking vitamin E and thiazolidinedione (drugs used to treat diabetes, such as Actos® and Avandia®) in specific instances.
  • Reduce the fat intake in your fatty liver diet.
  • Eliminate high-sugar beverages.
  • Increase fresh vegetables, especially greens.
  • Avoid fried foods.
  • Read the labels and, whenever possible, prepare your meals so you know exactly what you are eating.
  • Gradually increase your levels of physical exercise.

Reducing your fat intake is healthy. You should reduce your calorie intake by about 500 calories per day. This might seem like a lot, but this could be a few cups of coffee, a snack or two, and smaller portions of your meals. The picture shows that this is a small sacrifice for your overall health to flourish.

Fatty liver treatment

Before increasing your physical activity as part of your treatment for fatty liver, consult your doctor. In some situations, when an underlying medical condition does not allow you to increase your physical activity safely, your doctor must determine a safe method for you to take advantage of.

Your doctor may recommend physical therapy to help you increase physical activity and burn calories to lose the weight needed to improve your health.

Never make any modifications to your lifestyle without the approval of your medical care provider. He or she understands your medical conditions and will know exactly what is safe for you and what could cause more harm to other conditions.

However, many individuals are opting to take advantage of other forms of treatment for fatty livers. Depending on the actual root cause of the disease.

One of the most common non-traditional treatments for fatty liver is natural remedies. Using natural remedies to treat almost all ailments has grown in popularity over the past few years.

What is fatty liver disease?

Too much fat buildup in your liver is a common condition known as fatty liver disease (steatosis). A healthy liver contains a small amount of fat. It becomes a problem when fat reaches 5% to 10% of your liver’s weight.

Fatty Liver Disease

A common condition is fatty liver disease, which results from the liver storing extra fat. Most people have no symptoms, and it doesn’t cause severe problems for them. In some cases, though, it can lead to liver damage. The good news is that you can often prevent or even reverse fatty liver disease.

Fatty liver disease is when the liver accumulates too much fat. It can be dangerous if left untreated because it can lead to more severe diseases like liver fibrosis, where there is protein NAFLDaccumulation in the liver, or cirrhosis, where there is permanent liver scarring. Fatty liver disease (especially non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is the most common chronic liver disease. It may result from excessive alcohol consumption (in which case it is known as alcoholic fatty liver disease) or from other causes (in which case it is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is estimated to affect about 80 million to 100 million people in America. It’s most common among middle-aged people. It is well-known that alcohol can cause fatty liver disease. It is, in fact, one of the major causes of fatty liver disease. However, the causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are not well understood.

What is the function of the liver?

Your liver is an essential organ with multiple life-supporting functions. The liver:

  • Produces bile, which helps with digestion.
  • Makes proteins for the body.
  • Stores iron.
  • Converts nutrients into energy.
  • It creates substances that help your blood clot (stick together to heal wounds).
  • It helps you resist infections by making immune factors and removing bacteria and toxins (substances that can harm your body) from your blood.

What Causes Fatty liver

Some people get fatty liver disease without having any pre-existing conditions. Listed below are the most common causes of fatty liver disease:

  • Being obese or overweight.
  • Having type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance.
  • Having metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels).
  • Taking certain prescription medications, such as amiodarone (Cordarone®), diltiazem (Cardizem®), tamoxifen (Nolvadex®), or steroids.

Fatty liver causes

Excessive alcohol consumption leads to fatty liver.

Alcohol itself is relatively non-toxic. The problem is the metabolism of alcohol. Alcohol dehydrogenase is an enzyme that metabolizes alcohol but is more prevalent in the liver than in the stomach. In layman’s terms, alcohol refers to ethanol. The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase metabolizes ethanol to a more toxic substance called acetaldehyde. When excess alcohol is consumed, the dehydrogenase enzyme becomes saturated and can no longer handle alcohol metabolism, so another enzyme system takes over. The problem is that the other enzyme system still produces the same harmful metabolite, acetaldehyde. This is more like a paradox since metabolism is meant to make substances less harmful, but in this case, alcohol is converted to a more harmful substance. Acetaldehyde does a lot of direct damage to the liver cells and can cause irreversible scars. Acetaldehyde damages the liver cells and many proteins in the liver by denaturing them. The liver is the organ with one of the most diverse protein contents in the body. It has thousands of enzymes, all doing different work, and diverse protein molecules. Acetaldehyde can directly damage these protein molecules.

Alcohol itself can damage protein molecules. You can try an experiment to know what acetaldehyde does in the liver. The liver has a lot of water-soluble protein molecules, which include enzymes and so on, just like the liquid content of an egg. For the experiment, get an alcoholic drink (the higher the alcohol, the better), like vodka, or get 90% ethanol if possible. Pour it into a cup. Crack the egg and drop the contents into the alcohol. Leave it for an hour. You will notice that the alcohol has “cooked” the egg. This is what acetaldehyde does to the liver. It cooks (a more appropriate term is “denatures”) the critical proteins in the liver, like enzymes. When the liver proteins are “cooked,” the liver cannot detoxify the body effectively. The liver is responsible for producing a lot of proteins that help in the metabolism of fats and cholesterol, blood clotting, drug metabolism, and a host of other functions. The liver uses a lot of enzymes to reduce alcohol to acetaldehyde. Excess alcohol acts as an oxidant and causes oxidative stress on the liver. The result is a fatty liver that can degenerate over time into alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. However, in the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver, the cause is unknown, though similar events happen. However, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has been linked to risk factors like diabetes (type 2), obesity, and high LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol). Insulin resistance is a significant factor that is thought to cause non-alcohol fatty liver disease.

Why is FLD bad?

In most cases, fatty liver disease doesn’t cause serious problems or prevent your liver from functioning normally. But for 7% to 30% of people with the condition, the fatty liver disease gets worse over time. It progresses through three stages:

  • Your liver becomes inflamed (swollen), which damages its tissue. This stage is called steatohepatitis.
  • Scar tissue forms where your liver is damaged. This process is called fibrosis.
  • Extensive scar tissue replaces healthy tissue. At this point, you have cirrhosis of the liver.

What are the forms of fatty liver disease?

There are two primary forms of fatty liver disease:

Alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic fatty liver disease is the accumulation of fat in the liver due to heavy drinking. (Moderate drinking is defined as one drink per day for women and up to two per day for men.) About 5% of people in the U.S. have this form of liver disease.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease occurs in people who aren’t heavy drinkers. The condition affects one in three adults and one in 10 children in the United States. Researchers haven’t found the exact cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Several factors, such as obesity and diabetes, can increase your risk.

Fatty liver symptoms

Fatty liver symptoms

People with fatty liver disease often have no fatty liver symptoms until the disease progresses to liver cirrhosis. Possible fatty liver symptoms are:

  • Abdominal pain or a feeling of fullness in the upper right side of the abdomen (belly).
  • Nausea, loss of appetite, or weight loss.
  • Yellowish skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice).
  • Swollen abdomen and legs (edema).
  • Extreme tiredness or mental confusion.
  • Weakness.

Natural treatment for fatty liver disease

Natural treatments for fatty liver help cleanse the liver, regenerate damaged liver cells, and protect the liver from further damage.

Natural remedies for fatty liver are becoming increasingly popular, and many scientific studies have proved the effectiveness of Chinese herbs for fatty liver, homeopathic remedies for fatty liver, and acupuncture for fatty liver.

Natural treatment for fatty liver

Listed below are the most common approaches to natural treatment for fatty liver disease

Fatty liver disease is usually reversible. In treating alcoholic liver disease, avoiding anything that can cause it would make sense. Follow the following rules:

  • If you are taking too much alcohol, you have to stop.
  • If you are addicted to alcohol, it would be an excellent time to go for rehab and treatment.
  • If you have diabetes or obesity, you may want to control them with a good diet and exercise. There are also naturopathic and homeopathic therapies that can help.

First, you may want to have an adequate intake of vitamin B. Niacin/nicotinic acid is a form of vitamin B3 that helps improve cholesterol levels. Niacin stimulates the production of HDL and reduces LDL and triglycerides. This helps the liver to reduce the amount of fat it produces.

Another well-known herb that helps the liver is milk thistle. Milk thistle contains silymarin and silybin, which are very great antioxidants. Antioxidants are generally very good at treating fatty liver because they take a lot of pressure off the liver enzymes by reducing oxidative stress caused by substances like alcohol and mopping up free radicals. Silymarin and silybin also protect the liver cells directly.  Other antioxidants are resveratrol, found in red grapes, and antioxidants in green tea. Green tea itself, Camellia sinensis, contains some chemicals called polyphenols, which have been well-known in many studies to protect the liver and prevent fatty liver disease. Other good herbs are a whole bulb of garlic taken every day (though it may leave a lasting impression on your breath and body), Chelidonium (which a homeopathic expert says is the best for fatty liver generally), Lycopodium, Calcarea carb, and wolfberry. The plant Nux vomica is also very good for fatty liver disease caused by alcohol intake and is currently touted as the best herbal remedy for alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Diet is an essential component of any natural treatment for fatty liver.

NAFLD diet

Fatty liver disease, or fatty liver disease, as the name suggests, means that you have a lot of fat in your liver. There are two main types of fatty liver disease: alcohol-induced fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, also called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Fatty liver disease damages the liver and prevents it from performing normal liver functions. Bile production (digestive juice) is hampered, so toxins build up in the liver, aggravating liver damage. Typically, fatty liver disease is asymptomatic in the early stages. The condition is diagnosed primarily during routine investigations or during an ultrasound to diagnose another condition.

Since the liver is already functionally slowed down, it is necessary to have light foods in the intestine that are easy to digest. Include the following foods that will help detoxify the liver and further normalize liver enzymes, thus possibly reversing the condition, particularly in grade 1 and 2 fatty liver.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Specifically, include brightly colored fruits and vegetables in your diet. Fruits and vegetables such as guava, amla, sweet lime, oranges, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli, peppers, spinach, etc., are rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps treat many chronic diseases. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that help treat various degrees of fatty liver disease. It acts as a mediator in iron absorption, thus reducing the burden on the liver. Therefore, adequate vitamin C intake can significantly help heal the liver.

Have fiber-rich foods:

Fiber is an indispensable component of the digestive process, which also helps filter waste products from the liver. Eat legumes, whole grains, and vegetables like carrots and radishes, which are high in fiber. It is beneficial for managing grade 1 fatty liver disease.

Go gluten-free:

Opt for millet such as Jowar, Bajra, Ragi (Nachni), and buckwheat, which are easily absorbed and less digestible than wheat and maida.

Limit your fat intake.

Fats are essential to a balanced diet, but eating foods with saturated fats will only fuel the fire. Choose foods that contain unsaturated fats, including corn, soybeans, walnuts, and flax seeds. Fat is also an inevitable part of cooking. Sunflower, rapeseed, and olive oil serve the purpose and thus support your weak liver. Avoid fried foods. Go for baked foods.

Avoid stimulants:

Prefer green tea and black tea instead of milk tea and coffee. This creates an alkaline atmosphere in the digestive system that supports the healing process. These foods are powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals and protect the liver from cell damage. Avoid stimulants like alcohol, which is the leading cause of liver disease. Carbonated drinks should also be avoided.

Consume plenty of fluids.

Consuming adequate buttermilk, coconut water, and soups helps excrete unwanted fats from the liver, boosting normal liver function.

Go vegetarian.

Consumption of red meat, eggs, and even chicken may further damage your liver. While the meat is high in saturated fat, it hinders the standard functionality of liver cells. It is to avoid the consumption of seafood, as it could be polluted with heavy metals and other chemicals.

Regularly consuming healthy foods will speed up healing and help achieve the best results in treating fatty liver disease. An active lifestyle should be supplemented with regular exercise that will improve blood circulation and stimulate the work of the liver.
So, if you ever have fatty liver disease, ensure you have these foods in your regular diet to help treat the condition and enjoy good health.

Chinese herbs

Chinese hearbs

Chinese herbs for fatty liver are a natural fatty liver treatment effective in treating fatty liver disease.

Chinese herbs for fatty liver and their extracts have been identified as a novel source of potential therapeutic agents for preventing and treating fatty liver disease. The beneficial effects of these herbal medicines mean that they can be classified as novel candidates for treating and preventing both alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Listed below are the most influential Chinese herbs for fatty liver

Dandelion

  • This natural remedy for fatty liver is used as a liver tonic in common herbal remedies for fatty liver. It is particularly effective in reducing the inflammation of the liver, a common symptom of liver-related diseases. The herb also helps enhance the bile flow and provides a good source of vitamins and minerals for the body, which protects the liver and boosts the body’s immune system.

Licorice

  • Licorice root is a Chinese herb for fatty liver that has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and liver-protective effects in scientific studies. The main active component in licorice root is the saponin compound glycyrrhizin, commonly used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine to treat many ailments, including liver disease.

Danshen

  • Danshen is a substance that’s commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s the dried roots of the herb Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Human and animal studies have shown that Danshen positively affects liver health.

Astragalus

  • Astragalus is an edible herb commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s loaded with medicinal compounds, including saponins, isoflavonoids, and polysaccharides, which have powerful therapeutic properties. It’s generally considered safe and hasn’t been associated with liver injury.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture for fatty liver is a form of natural fatty liver treatment that is widely used in the clinical treatment of GI conditions.

A clinical study has demonstrated that acupuncture for fatty liver can effectively treat NAFLD and present a better therapeutic effect on hepatic fat status, glycolipid metabolism, and insulin resistance.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a common chronic liver illness that represents a significant public health challenge nowadays. NAFLD is a medical condition that causes an accumulation of excess fat in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol. Although genetic factors are important risk factors that may cause the development of NAFLD, a detrimental lifestyle, prolonged sedentary periods, or limited physical activity have significant metabolic implications. NAFLD, if not adequately addressed, can lead to the development of hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver failure, and even liver cancer.

There is currently no effective treatment available for NAFLD therapy. Thus, it is essential to seek new therapies to treat NAFLD. Acupuncture has been used to treat NAFLD by regulating lipid metabolism, participating in signaling pathways related to lipid metabolism, improving insulin resistance, and increasing antioxidant levels in liver tissue.
Acupuncture is an effective treatment for improving the quality of life in various medical conditions, including hepatitis. Acupuncture combined with lifestyle intervention is effective in treating obesity, metabolic syndromes related to weight, lipid regulation, glucose levels, and various markers of inflammation. The effect of acupuncture on NAFLD has yet to be investigated.

Assy Nimer, a scientist from Ziv Hospital, suggests that acupuncture combined with lifestyle intervention can effectively treat NAFLD.

Homeopathic remedies for fatty liver 

The liver is a vital organ that filters blood from the digestive system. One of the conditions that afflict this organ is the fatty liver, which occurs due to the accumulation of triglycerides within it. There could be multiple reasons behind this, such as alcoholism, obesity, pregnancy, and hepatitis, among many others.

Fatty liver homeopathy

Homeopathic medicine for fatty liver can reverse the condition of the liver and bring it back to normal. Homeopathic medicines are made from natural substances and administered to patients after studying the unique symptoms of each one of them. The homeopathic remedies for fatty liver are harmless and have no side effects.

Homeopathic remedies for fatty liver are one of the most popular holistic systems of medicine for treating fatty liver. Homeopathic remedies for fatty liver disease are very proficient in managing all the symptoms of fatty liver disease and play a vital role in preventing relapses of the condition. Some of the most common homeopathic medicines for fatty liver are:

Chelidonium:

Right upper abdominal pain and fatty liver disease are both common conditions that this homeopathic remedy for fatty liver treats. In such cases, the liver may be enlarged, and the patient also usually suffers from constipation or experiences nausea and vomiting.

Some of the symptoms where Chelidonium may work are as follows:

  • Pain in the upper right abdomen
  • Enlargement of liver
  • Constipation
  • Jaundice along with fatty liver
  • Feeling excessively weak
  • Craving for hot drinks and hot foods

Lycopodium:

This homeopathic medication effectively treats fatty liver disease, especially if you suffer from gastric issues and acidity. You may have symptoms like bloating of the stomach, burning of the esophagus when belching or burping, and pain in the upper right abdomen.

Phosphorus:

This is used to treat cases of fatty acid, which triggers regurgitation accompanied by sour belching. In some cases, the patient may also experience pain in the liver and excessive flatulence. Vomiting may also occur along with weakness while passing stool.

Calcarea Carbonica:

Obese patients suffering from this condition can be treated with Calcarea carbonica. These people often have a distended abdomen, are lactose intolerant, and suffer chronic constipation. They are also overly sensitive to cold air and sweat excessively from the head.

Nux Vomica:

Homeopathic remedy for fatty liver with pain in the abdomen after eating. Any abdominal issue, including fatty liver from excessive alcohol consumption, responds well to nux vomica. These patients often suffer abdominal pain a few hours after eating sour or bitter-tasting belches. They may constantly feel the urge to pass stool but cannot.

Homeopathic treatment for fatty liver

Homeopathic remedies have negligible side effects when taken in low dosages but should never be self-prescribed. If you suffer from a fatty liver, consult a homeopathic doctor who can diagnose it properly and treat you accordingly.

A natural treatment for fatty liver in Philadelphia

At the Philadelphia Homeopathic Clinic, Dr. Victor Tsan has extensive experience in the natural treatment of internal diseases, including different GI disorders and fatty liver disease. We use only the best brands of homeopathic medicines (SBL, Jain, Boiron, Unda, and Seroyal). Homeopathic medicines are safe and cause no side effects or allergic reactions.

Victor Tsan, MD - founder of the Philadelphia Homeopathic Clinic

If you are suffering from fatty liver and prefer alternative treatment, contact Philadelphia Homeopathic Clinic to book an appointment with Dr. Tsan and discuss how homeopathic remedies may help you.