Many people think that fatty liver is a fatty thing and that thin people can get away with it. In fact, this is not the case, and medical examinations often reveal that some very thin people are found to have fatty liver. So – why do thin people suffer from fatty liver?
Fatty liver is a lesion caused by excessive accumulation of fat in the liver cells for various reasons. Fatty liver disease is a serious threat to the health of the nation, becoming the second most common liver disease after viral hepatitis, and has been recognized as a common cause of insidious cirrhosis.
The “frugal gene” is to blame
Studies have shown that the genetic background of fatty liver in Westerners is mainly neuroendocrine factors, so most of the people suffering from fatty liver are mainly obese. The Oriental people are different, even very thin people can also suffer from fatty liver, and the Oriental people contain a “thrifty gene” related to the body.
It is understood that the “thrifty gene” was formed in the early years of food scarcity, it is conducive to the body’s energy reserves for consumption when hungry, but in the present time of reduced exercise and great abundance of food, the “thrifty gene” continues to function, so that the gene The “frugality gene” continues to function, making it a predisposing factor for fatty liver, type II diabetes, and coronary heart disease.
Professor Wong Wai-kwan, a Hong Kong academician in internal medicine, said that lean people have fatty liver disease. Professor Huang Wei, a professor of internal medicine in Hong Kong, said that thin people suffer from fatty liver mainly because after the body consumes food, excess calories will be converted into fat and stored in adipose tissue. The body’s adipose tissue is like a fat storage “warehouse”, there is a certain capacity. If the body synthesizes too much fat, more than the storage capacity of the “warehouse”, fat cells will “run” everywhere, “run” to the liver, heart and other places. Thin people have less adipose tissue, smaller “warehouses” and poorer ability to store fat. The fat is more likely to “run” to the liver, resulting in a fatty liver.
Thin people may be “fat” in their bodies
Professor Fan Jiangao, director of the Department of Gastroenterology at Shanghai Jiaotong University Xinhua Hospital, said that thin people, despite their slim appearance, may be “fat” inside their bodies. Their heart, liver, pancreas and other vital organs may have much more fat than the subcutaneous fat visible to the naked eye.
”Obesity is divided into peripheral obesity and central obesity. Central obesity is also called abdominal obesity.” Fan Jiangao explained, people generally tend to abdominal wall fat accumulation degree, waist size, etc. as a judgment of whether a person is obese, but ignore the accumulation of visceral organs grease, and this is precisely where we should pay special attention to.
Which internal organs of the human body are easy to form fat accumulation? “The liver, pancreas, spleen and other visceral tissues may accumulate grease. Among them, the most important is the liver. The fat content of the normal liver accounts for about 5 percent of the liver’s wet weight, and more than that may form a fatty liver.” Fan Jiangao further explained, “Because the liver is the hub of metabolism. Sugars and fats have to be digested by the liver.”
Poor nutrition predisposes to fatty liver
”Many people with thin bodies can’t believe they’ve been checked for fatty liver, and some think it’s a misdiagnosis. In fact, most thin people generally prefer a vegetarian diet, so that the nutritional intake can not meet the needs of the body, triggering malnutrition fatty liver.” Fan Jiangao said.
In fact, the reason is very simple, excess nutrition belongs to too much raw material, while malnutrition belongs to the processing of auxiliary materials are not enough, the same can not produce a qualified product. When malnutrition, protein deficiency, and lead to a reduction in the synthesis of very low-density lipoprotein, which will cause liver transport triglycerides occurred in the obstacle, fat accumulation in the liver, causing fatty liver. If someone suffers from chronic intestinal diseases, long-term anorexia, diet, partial diet, vegetarian diet, malabsorption syndrome and gastrointestinal bypass surgery, etc., this causes hypoproteinemia, lack of choline, amino acids or lipotropic substances, thus forming fatty liver. So obese people can cause fatty liver, and people after weight loss and lean people with chronic malnutrition are prone to fatty liver.
Fan Jiangao said that for some fat people who are found to have fatty liver, there is a misconception that the speed of weight loss is too fast. Some people take “starvation therapy”, so that weight in a short period of time to quickly drop, which is very harmful, because weight loss is actually a fat movement process, fat movement too fast and too hard, more than the body’s metabolic capacity, fat will “run” to the liver. Rapid weight loss will cause a large number of fatty acids to be released and deposited in the liver, heart and other organs, aggravating liver inflammation, possibly causing liver cell necrosis, impaired liver function, and in severe cases inducing liver fibrosis and damage to other important organs, gradual weight loss is the most effective.
”Fat ectopic” pile into fatty liver
The medical community has a clear understanding of the process of visceral fat accumulation. Fan Jiangao said: “Under normal circumstances, the body’s intake of fat is mainly accumulated in the adipose tissue. However, beyond the limit of fat tissue absorption, a phenomenon called ‘fat ectopia’ occurs, resulting in visceral fat accumulation.”
The accumulation of fat in the internal organs caused by “fat ectopia” can cause many health hazards. “The occurrence of fat ectopia can lead to lipotoxicity, which in turn can lead to diseases such as insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and glucose toxicity. In addition, too much visceral fat can damage the function of the internal organs.” Fan Jiangao said.
On the one hand, fat deposition can cause in situ functional damage, such as fat accumulation in the liver to form a fatty liver, and in the pancreas to damage the function of pancreatic islet cells; on the other hand, fat may shift and cause systemic damage, such as cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, splenomegaly and other diseases.
”Balance between income and expenditure” to prevent fatty liver
Experts believe that a scientific diet, moderate exercise, to maintain a “balance between income and expenditure”, is the most basic way to avoid the accumulation of visceral fat in daily life. “The most important thing is to keep a balance between daily intake and consumption. If it is not completely digested, you need additional exercise and exercise. Excess calories in the body can only be converted into the form of fat.” Fan Jiangao advised.
He said, “From a medical perspective, reducing and inhibiting visceral fat accumulation starts in three ways. First, reduce the displacement and shunting of fat from adipose to non-adipose tissues. It is important to take obesity seriously and to lose weight. Second, to help cellular metabolism. This is because if too much fat is shifted from intracellular to extracellular, it will do more damage to the body. Third, toxic fatty acids must be reduced. Fatty acids, the basic substance within fat, are divided into non-toxic fatty acids and toxic fatty acids. To achieve the reduction of toxic fatty acids, it is necessary to maintain the coordination of the ratio of saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids in the human body. Saturated fatty acids come from animals and unsaturated fatty acids come from plants. Therefore, eating more fruits and vegetables is good for physical and mental health.”
For the liver, which is most likely to accumulate fat, Fan Jiangao suggested prevention and treatment by taking extra supplements of various vitamins, especially vitamin B, vitamin E and beta carotene, through the dietary route to help prevent alcoholic and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.