Diabetes and Your Liver

It’s well known that diabetes comes with complications, from kidney disease, nerve and blood vessel damage; to infections and heart disease, but many people are unaware of just how badly their livers can be affected.

According to Dr Gillian Booth, newly diagnosed diabetes is linked with a near doubling in the rate of cirrhosis, liver failure or transplant compared with non-diabetics; and patients do not have to be overweight for this to remain true.

Insulin resistance is the driving force behind fatty liver disease, and insulin resistance is also a fore-runner for type II diabetes. Although Type I diabetes is genetically acquired, by their mid-thirties these patients have usually developed insulin resistance as well (the exceptions being those who have stuck with rigid diet and exercise programs).

While most people believe diabetics struggle to produce insulin, the problem with most is that they actually have very high levels of insulin in the blood. As the insulin levels rise higher and higher, the body becomes less responsive and it loses it’s capacity to control blood sugar levels. When you eat starchy or sugary foods, the body breaks them down into glucose, which is no good in the bloodstream – you need it inside the cells to be used for energy. It is insulin that pumps the glucose into the cell so that it can be used. If you have lost the ability to do that and become insulin resistant, then you will feel hungry, weak, tired and irritable. You will crave carbohydrates (because your cells need it) but the more you in take, the more you will be building up the sugars in the blood.

The carbohydrate rich foods need to be stored somewhere, so the body converts them to fat. This is compounded by the fact that the high levels of insulin are signalling to your liver that you need to manufacture fats – in particular triglycerides and cholesterol. This promotes the accumulation of fat inside the liver, inside other organs and inside the arteries.

If you have diabetes, your doctor has probably already told you that you will need regular blood tests to check on the health of your kidneys and heart; and you were probably advised to get regular eye tests and foot examinations – unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be standard practice to also check liver enzymes. Ideally, you should be getting your enzymes checked at least annually (more if there are signs of damage) and preferably and ultrasound to check for the presence of fat accumulation.

How can you protect your liver?

Most importantly, controlling your diabetes can have profound effects. The closer you are to a healthy body weight, and the closer to normal you can maintain your blood sugar, without the use of insulin, the better the health of your liver will be. But you can’t assume that because you are at a normal weight there will not be fat accumulating in the liver.

It’s important to do some research into lower carbohydrate diet plans that are suitable for diabetics and engage regularly in exercise and fitness. Exercise not only burns the fat you can see, but the fat that is being stored in your internal organs.

You should also avoid sugar, and flour, and all foods and drinks that contain them.

Reduce or cut out alcohol. Alcohol greatly speeds up cirrhosis and progression of fatty liver disease.

Eat more vegetables – preferably raw. Try to make at least one meal every day a large salad. They are full of antioxidants and minerals that your liver needs to repair. If you struggle with salads, buy a juicer and make sure that you are getting plenty of vegetables in every glass.

You should stay away from any foods containing vegetable oils. The only vegetable oils that are safe for you to consume are cold pressed olive oils, macadamia nut oil, avocado oil or coconut oil. All other vegetable oils are known to cause fat cells to accumulate in the liver.

Supplement with a fish oil for Omega 3. I like fermented cod liver oil, or if you have an account with me you can purchase xEO Mega Essential Oil Omega Complex, and the even have vegan version called vEO Mega. Omega 3 oils have strong anti-inflammatory effect and can help to heal damaged cell membranes.

Supplementing minerals, primarily chromium and magnesium can have a great effect on your ability to control blood sugar levels. Magnesium is better taken trans-dermally that via an oral supplement. You can also take a supplement to improve absorption, such as doTERRA's Bone Nutrient Lifetime Complex (which you can also purchase from me). You could also try supplementing with a liver tonic, such as Zendocrine Detoxification Complex. Look for one with a large proportion of milk thistle to help protect liver cells, but with no added sugars or vegetable oils.