Does Having a Fatty Liver Make You Prone to Diabetes?

Eating too much junk food such as deep-fried food and red meat can lead to a fatty liver. The liver plays a significant role in health, and an unhealthy liver can pose a high risk for diseases like diabetes.

Links Between NALFD and Diabetes

The liver strains toxins in the blood, helps to reduce fat and aids metabolism. Once it gets fatty, functions are affected. Fatty liver is a result of having 10% fat stored in the liver, and it isn’t spotted easily.

Normally, the liver contains fat, but the buildup of extra fat is called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

American and Korean researchers conducted a study in 2011, and it revealed the link between fatty liver and the development of Type 2 diabetes. The findings were supported by Japanese researchers who had an earlier study in 2007 and noted that NAFLD can cause diabetes.

The liver is known to regulate blood sugar in our bodies. Excess glucose stored in the liver is transformed into glycogen. Glycogen gets converted into glucose each time you experience low energy levels.

According to Dr. Kenneth Cusi, an endocrinologist at the University of Florida, a fatty liver will have poor control of blood sugar levels. Once this happens, it can result in diabetes.

Undetected Symptoms of Fatty Liver

Unfortunately, not all diabetics know that they have fatty liver. Cusi added that NAFLD is left undiagnosed because not all medical experts are aware of it.

It has no evident symptoms, and you can only observe the condition when it worsens to liver cirrhosis. When you have liver cirrhosis, scar tissues replace your healthy liver cells.

Currently, the most accurate measure to detect fatty liver is through liver biopsy. Other doctors advised patients to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),  but the results aren’t often accurate.

Obesity and Losing Weight

According to Cusi, obesity is a potential indicator of NAFLD, as observed in a study on overweight Latinos and Non-Hispanic whites. Latinos are more prone to have type 2 diabetes than other races. Cusi explained that even if ethnicity has nothing much to do with NAFLD, obesity is still a salient factor.

In conclusion, Cusi recommends starting to lose weight because it can repeal fatty liver disease. Losing 5% of your body weight can do two things. First, it can trim down liver fat. Also, it can scale down the chance of having inflammation related to insulin resistance.

Reduce your weight by eating healthy food and cutting down your intake of the following:

  • Sugary foods
  • Deep-fried foods
  • Salty foods
  • Red meat
  • High-carb foods like white bread and pasta
  • Alcohol

Develop a healthy lifestyle to keep your weight in check. Losing weight can not just reduce obesity risks, but it can also contribute to a healthy liver and controlled blood sugar levels.


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