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Israeli researchers say they have found diet that dramatically reduces liver fat, modifying traditional Mediterranean diet to include special greens.
“In 20 years, our research team has shown, through rigorous and long-term randomized trials, that the Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts, is the healthiest”, declared the epidemiologist Prof . Iris Shai. “Now we have found that changes specific to this diet can lead to a big reduction in liver fat.”
In an 18-month study of 294 participants in southern Israel, two-thirds of the participants ate a Mediterranean diet and exercised regularly. They lost weight in similar amounts, but those who ate the adapted “green” version, with less meat, more plant products, and lots of green tea, saw particular benefits in their liver.
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“Even though the Mediterranean diet and the Mediterranean green diet led to overall equal weight loss, fat loss in the liver was doubled in those on the green diet,” Shai told The Times of Israel .
Ingredients for a Mediterranean diet (inaquim via iStock by Getty Images)
“The liver is so important to human health in general, and fatty liver disease has broad implications, but there is a lack of drug treatments and a lack of dietary protocol beyond general weight loss, which makes this important discovery.
The modified diet targets high levels of polyphenols, organic compounds produced by plants, apparently to protect against stress.
The study by Shai, a professor at Ben-Gurion Negev University in Beersheba and an assistant professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Gut. Several Harvard researchers participated in the study.
One of the elements of the diet is an aquatic plant called mankai that an Israeli company, Hinoman, markets as a superfood. Shai is a business advisor.
It is estimated that 20-35% of adults suffer from fatty liver disease, a condition that doctors say increases the risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as a decrease in blood pressure. the diversity of the gut microbiome and microbial imbalance. But no drugs are currently available and the only intervention is weight loss and reducing alcohol consumption.
Powdered form of an aquatic mankai plant (Schachar Fleishman)
The diet is rich in vegetables, includes a daily intake of nuts (28 grams) and less meat than a regular Mediterranean diet. It is fortified with green items, including three to four cups of green tea per day and 100 grams of a green mankai shake.
Shai said, “We believe that there are components like polyphenols and fiber that alter the microbiome, so this diet helps cleanse fat from the liver.
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