Is a Fatty Liver Slowing down Your Metabolism?

I’m beginning to think developing a fatty liver is a standard process of aging.

But it’s a process you can intervene on that doesn’t have to happen. 

Just so I’m clear here – I’m talking about what conventional medicine calls Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

It’s on the rise and I’m seeing it in my office at an alarming rate.

Likely due to toxic food, air and water along with increased stress and subsequent gut microbiome issues. 

There’s a move to call this type of fatty liver disease – metabolic fatty liver disease and that’s what I’m going with as it’s more the root cause. 

I don’t like the word disease so I’ll be calling it metabolic fatty liver – my term – so if you ask your primary care doctor about it refer to NAFLD. 

Ah tips for navigating the conventional medical realm…but I digress…

If you’ve been noticing your belly fat increasing and your cholesterol creeping up little by little each lab test…

…despite improving your diet and increasing exercise it’s worth considering a few interventions to see if you can improve your metabolism. 

I can’t settle for society’s brainwashing that it’s hard to lose weight over 40. 

My Mom was well into her 40’s when I was a young sponge soaking up every thing she said about age and diet. 

When I noticed my cholesterol going up along with my weight at 45 the little voices in my head started to say – “well here it goes – get ready to battle this”.

What?  A battle…what message is this sending to my nervous system?

Getting older is not going to be a battle for me and I certainly do not want that for you. 

So how do you know if you have a metabolic fatty liver situation developing?

There are two main ways to assess using labs and body measurements.

First one – go back to your last labs, measure your waist circumference and your BMI.

Note the following levels…

• Triglycerides
• GGT
• Waist Circumference
• BMI

It’s possible that your doctor didn’t run a GGT, I didn’t use it regularly but will be now. 

You can order a GGT test at Labcorp on Demand or I can help you get the test for a cost effective rate – hit reply and I’ll get you dialed in.

But…If you do have all the info above there’s a website where you can calculate your Fatty Liver Index – check it out HERE 

If you don’t have the GGT but you want to know what’s up here’s another way to assess…

…look at your ALT (liver enzyme) levels in your comprehensive metabolic panel – optimal ALT – 13-22 in Men and 10-19 in Women this may indicate a process starting. 

There are other calculations that can take you back to the confusion of high school algebra.

If you’re up for crunching numbers without the headache – there’s a website to do the calculation for you – whew crisis averted… 

Second test – the NAFLD Ridge Score:

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Your age
• Height + weight
• AST (liver enzyme see your comprehensive metabolic panel)
• ALT (liver enzyme – found in the comprehensive metabolic panel)
• Platelet count (in your complete blood count aka CBC)
• Albumin level (in your comprehensive metabolic panel)

Plug those numbers into the Omni calculator app for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (HERE).

This calculation identifies if there’s fibrosis or a disease process starting.

Note – there are a few types of calculators for NAFLD but I like this one because the result is clearly defined for you. 

Depending on if you’re trending toward a metabolic fatty liver or not there are some things you can do to prevent it or reverse it. 

First step is to evaluate your movement, diet, gut health and stress levels. 

You can do all the fancy liver detoxes, gut microbiome resets, take tons of the fanciest probiotics and nothing will change with your health if you’re not addressing your stress and how you process emotions… 

…especially anger, frustration, irritability and the things that agitate you. 

Don’t repress your emotions – let that “shiitake” go or the people or situations go. 

It takes 90 seconds to feel an emotion and let it out.

Get good at being unapologetic about feeling your emotions fully. 

I use a good brisk walk, jumping jacks or a round of shadow boxing to release my emotions.

Whatever movement sounds good to you – do it!

And if movement isn’t possible…

…use a nervous system reset like tracing your finger on your lips or run your tongue on your teeth 6 times clockwise when something gets you fired up. (I have many more nervous system resets if these don’t work – just ask). 

Next – ditch all refined sugar, refined carbs, toxic dyes, preservatives, and seed oils from your diet – no matter how yummy the food – it’s not serving you. 

Move to a lower saturated fat diet till your liver repairs. 

Then it’s time to get granular on what your body needs to help the liver repair while you reset your gut. 

If you’ve tried a gut detox and you didn’t feel well – or rashes popped up right away it’s likely either your nervous system or your liver is preventing you from a proper detox.

Work on the gut first and figure out what you need. 

Research has shown shown 2-4 weeks of a very low carb diet hypo caloric diet like my metabolic reset can work wonders to get the liver on it’s way to repairing. 

After the 2-4 weeks move to a Mediterranean or low sugar/refined carb, low sat fat diet till the liver isn’t showing stress signs, your weight is improving and you’re feeling good mentally.

Exercise is crucial and more of a benefit than weight loss alone.

Research has also shown a need for a mix of cardiovascular exercise and weight lifting.

Doing a micronutrient test to asses for vitamin E, choline, omega 3 levels is ideal as is considering a product to help with blood sugar utilization and management like GDAid from Biostack Labs.

At this point the list of recommended supplements to correct fatty liver is extensive…

• Vitamin E 400-1200 IU a day
• Tocotrienols – 200 mg twice daily
• Choline 2 grams a day
• NAC – 600 mg twice daily
• Omega 3 – 1 gram a day
• Carnitine 1 gram daily
• Berberine – 500 mg three times a day
• Milk thistle – 500 mg twice daily
• Nigella seed – 1-2  grams a day
• Hesperidin – 1 gram a day
• Probiotic – Seed or Natren brand

I wouldn’t recommend doing all of those things listed above – it’s overwhelming. 

Testing and not guessing is vital to dial in your protocol.

Genetic testing may also help you identify where to place your focus.

I’ve had clients do the Genova Methylation Panel to see if this is part of the picture – this is relevant in those with higher triglyceride and cholesterol levels as well as a history of struggling with fatigue and not tolerating medications or supplements. 

As with anything there is no magic pill. 

I believe switching up diet and cleaning it up combined with exercise, a solid probiotic like Seed or Natren and an emotional regulation practice can take care of a lot of these cases. 

Supplements are icing on the cake. 

Keep in mind fatty liver is more prevalent than most realize even in lean folks and anxiety, depression, low self esteem and cognitive decline are all signs of this condition.

Not addressing it can lead to multi-system disease including cancer.

My goal isn’t to scare you with that statement it’s to bring up the point…

…if the liver is one of your most vital organs it would make sense to take care of it if you want to age well. 

It seems cancer is more likely to develop the longer you live. 

So why not head that off by fending off the liver’s contribution to that process?

I don’t want to age like my Mom who died of breast cancer at 62. 

She had all the signs of a metabolic fatty liver when I was a little kid. 

Despite all her natural food knowledge and hippy tendencies she wasn’t great at stress management and she loved brandy slushies (total midwest thing) and champagne to cope. 

The 80-90’s dieting culture of “I can’t believe it’s not Butter” and “Snackwells” didn’t help.

You don’t have to age like your Mom or how society has portrayed.

Get some labs, crunch the numbers and ditch the toxic food, air and water and get moving. 

Exercise has hands down the best data for helping livers and managing stress. 

I believe Richard Simmons gave my Mom a few extra years of life and he certainly got me started on a life long fitness kick. 

Whether you’re drawn sweating to the oldies (which would be 90’s music now I suppose) or enjoy a good long walk – the best place to start is by becoming someone who moves more!

There’s a lot in this email – if you have questions – hit reply I’m happy to answer!

Here’s to your liver health,

Dr. J

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PS: All this aging stuff becoming overwhelming?  Just want someone to tell you what to do for your health? – I’ll doing a masterclass mid September on “How not to age like your mother (well at least mine)“and I’ll be launching my VIP in person sessions mid-October in Tacoma, WA – where I’ll come to your house – assess your air, water, food and total home environment along with a head to toe evaluation of your health, how you move and much more – plus the ability to cook with me too. If you’re interested hit reply – more details to come!