In an article published in the March 31-April 1 issue of New Scientist, writer James Kingsland talks about how overeating and the obesity epidemic are causing more and more people to be diagnosed with liver disease. If I asked you what the leading cause of cirrhosis of the liver was you would likely say alcohol. Guess again. Some may say hepatitis but that would be wrong also. Obesity is the leading cause of a diseased liver in most affluent nations.

Other interesting tidbits include:

• 5-10 percent of Americans have liver disease.
• 2/3rds of them have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• Four cups of coffee a day seems to reduce the risk of NAFLD!
• Children are now being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

One interesting finding is that liver disease, in early stages can be reversed by changing dietary habits. The key is to eat healthy (less fat and simple carbohydrates) and exercise. I would add that taking the herb milk thistle and the amino acid glycine (1-3 grams daily) would greatly improve liver health.

The one thing that annoyed me about the article was the talk of developing drugs to fight off liver disease. I can see it being critical in late-stage disease where liver transplantation is the only option but you know that pharmaceutical industry will market the hell out of the drug instead of making people change their lifestyle. What I did like was the last quote of the article from Dr. David Jones is “I put the fear of God into them, then I send them off to buy a heart rate monitor and to exercise. I tell them it’s the best £50 they’ll ever spend. And patient after patient comes back with normalised liver function tests. They feel a lot better, the tiredness goes away. It’s quite extraordinary.”  Advice well given.