Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the ultimate lifestyle disease in that it is almost entirely induced by dietary choices.
The biggest culprit is a high-fat diet, which makes a new study in Research Square even more interesting.
It reveals how consuming a specific oil can heal your NAFLD.
The researchers fed a group of mice a high-fat diet containing lots of palm oil, which isn’t good for the livers of either mice or humans.
They then injected the mice with LPS, which is a harmful substance that causes inflammation. They did this to simulate the conditions that lead to NAFLD in humans.
Then, the researchers gave the mice a little bit of ginger oil to drink.
The results were impressive.
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1. The liver health markers of the mice improved. When humans and mice have liver problems, there’s an increase in a substance called alanine aminotransferase in their blood. The ginger-fed mice had lower levels of this, which means their livers were healthier.
2. The livers of the ginger-fed mice had lower levels of substances that cause inflammation. Together with excessive fat storage, inflammation is one of the defining characteristics of NAFLD.
3. The ginger-fed mice had higher antioxidant levels in their livers and throughout their bodies. Antioxidants fight against dangerous molecules and tissue damage.
4. The ginger helped control two specific pathways in the liver that, if left unchecked, can cause inflammation. These are called the NLRP3 inflammasome and LPS/Toll-like receptor four (TLR4) signaling pathways.
5. The ginger increased the amount of beneficial gut bacteria in the mice and reduced the number of detrimental bacteria associated with NAFLD.
All of this means that ginger oil is a great natural way to protect our livers against NAFLD. It prevents them from becoming inflamed, averts cell damage, and keeps harmful substances from leaking out of the gut by promoting a healthier bacterial colony in our intestines.
If this looks like a solution you want to try, you can either add one or two drops of ginger oil to a glass of water or take ginger oil in a capsule if you don’t like its taste. You can also use one or two drops of ginger oil in your dishes instead of ginger powder.
It is important that you buy 100% pure-grade ginger oil that is labeled as a dietary supplement to ensure that it is safe for internal use.