Reverse Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

If you’re currently in shock after a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) diagnosis, and doctors have told you that there’s no cure, a new study in the journal Antioxidants offers some hope.

A common food type helps clear your fatty liver and prevents fibrosis.

Best of all, you’re probably already eating this food. Just eat more of it—it’s delicious.

NAFLD is a range of liver conditions that start with a fatty liver and potentially progress to a more severe form known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH can lead to serious complications, including liver scarring (fibrosis) and even liver cancer.

Ellagic acid, which is found in a variety of fairly common foods, is widely believed to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic, and anticancer properties, according to many previous studies.

As a result, a research team from Edith Cowan University conducted a detailed review of scientific literature to find out exactly how helpful this compound might be for people with NAFLD.

Briefly stated, when you consume foods rich in ellagic acid, it leads to plenty of this compound in your stomach and intestines. And when the bacteria in your intestines break this down further, it becomes metabolites called urolithins.

According to this review, both ellagic acid and urolithins help reduce oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis—key factors in NAFLD and NASH.

Let’s look at the details.

1. Ellagic acid scavenges free radicals and activates something called the NrF2 pathway, which reduces oxidative stress and protects the liver.

2. It suppresses pathways called Nf-kB and MAPK, both of which cause inflammation during NAFLD/NASH.

3. It lowers fat and cholesterol levels, combating the fat buildup that’s such a major risk factor for NAFLD progression.

4. In laboratory studies, ellagic acid has been found to alleviate liver fibrosis.

5. Its main metabolite, urolithin, lowers LDL (bad) and increases HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and thereby prevents too much fat from being stored by the liver.

Consistent with these findings, including foods rich in ellagic acid in your diet offers a natural way to support liver health.

Here are some good options.

1. Keep plenty of raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries on hand to eat as easy snacks or enjoy in desserts, smoothies, pancakes, salsa, or iced tea.

2. Include pecans and walnuts in your diet, not just as snacks, but also as crunchy ingredients in meals like oatmeal, yogurt, salad, grain bowls, stir-fries, and pastas.

3. Pomegranates and grapes are also good as a snack or in salads or yogurt.

Including these foods is the easiest way to give your liver the best chance to recover and repair itself if you have been diagnosed with NAFLD.

Unfortunately, eating ellagic acid is not enough to completely reverse NAFLD. For that you need to take a few more all-natural steps explained here…