Trans Fat & Liver Dysfunction

Eat lots of bakery goods, processed foods and french fries and you become a prime candidate for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. That’s because these foods are rich in trans fats, which are associated with this type of liver disease. Trans fat, which raises your triglycerides and levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, while lowering your “good” high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also increases your risk for heart disease.

Significance

In the U.S., more than 20 percent of the population has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a study in the March 2007 “Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.” This is a progressive disease that is caused by diet and lifestyle factors. NAFLD can develop into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, which is a serious form of liver disease that can proceed to cirrhosis and liver cancer. These liver diseases are the hepatic, or liver-related, component of metabolic syndrome and have become a major health problem in the U.S., as well as worldwide. You might not be able to tell if you have NAFLD because it often has no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they may include weakness, fatigue, appetite loss, weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, spider-like blood vessels, jaundice, itching, mental confusion, and fluid build-up and swelling in your abdomen and legs.

Trends

Incidence of NAFLD has increased along with the consumption of oils and fats in the U.S. Since 1970, fat and oil consumption has increased by 62 percent. Trans-fatty acids, derived from vegetable oils, account for 1.7 percent to 8 percent of dietary fat consumption, according to an August 2009 “Journal of Lipid Research” study. These fats encourage metabolic syndrome in which insulin sensitivity decreases and weight gain around your middle increases. Other factors in metabolic syndrome include low “good” high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglycerides, high fasting blood glucose levels and high blood pressure.

Treatment

The optimal therapy for NAFLD is modifying your diet and lifestyle, according to M. Cave, lead author for the “Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry” study. If you want to prevent or treat NAFLD, limit your consumption of trans fats to less than 2 grams daily, advises “Nutrition, Diet Therapy and The Liver.” Also, keep your saturated fat consumption to less than 7 percent of overall calories and your total fat consumption to 20 to 30 percent of total calories. Instead of trans and saturated fats, choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Also consume 25 to 30 grams fiber daily, exercise and focus on consuming fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Considerations

Combining trans fats with a high-carbohydrate diet further raises your risk for NAFLD and complications associated with it, notes a September 2010 “Hepatology” study. High-fructose corn syrup is one type of carbohydrate that is especially apt to raise risk for NAFLD, according to physician Ashutosh S. Naniwadekar of the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. The average American consumes 12 percent of calories from fructose, mainly as high-fructose corn syrup, Naniwadekar notes in a February 2010 “Practical Gastroenterology” scientific review. Dietary monosodium glutamate also worsens NAFLD that is caused by high trans fat intake, according to Kate S. Collison, lead author for the “Journal of Lipid Research Study.” Read food labels to determine how much trans fat a product has. Watch out for any of these words: “fractionated,” “partially hydrogenated,” or “hydrogenated,” recommends "Reader’s Digest."