A 34-year-old man suffers from liver cancer after eating too much every day. Reminder: If he eats 4 kinds of foods, the liver will be overwhelmed

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Mr. Zhang is 34 years old and an office worker. In normal life, he is very self-disciplined. He doesn't drink, smoke, stay up late, socialize, and exercise. His physical fitness has always been very good, and he rarely gets sick.

However, just 2 years ago, he was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease during his unit physical examination. But he didn't think the problem was serious, so he didn't take it seriously.

Until some time ago, he always felt itchy skin, and the skin on his face seemed to have turned a lot yellow , and he felt bad, so he made an appointment for an examination. After a series of examinations such as blood drawing and MRI, Mr. Zhang was diagnosed with liver cancer, but luckily it was still in the early stage.

The receiving doctor said that according to Mr. Zhang's living habits and examination results, the cause of his illness is likely to be related to his usual eating too much.

The doctor further explained that Mr. Zhang has been eating too much for a long time, especially meat, which will increase the metabolic burden of the body, increase the body fat rate, and easily trigger oxidative stress and other reactions , resulting in a large number of free radicals and other substances in the body, so will cause cancer.

In Mr. Zhang's perception, most liver cancers are caused by drinking alcohol, but he did not expect that fatty liver caused by overeating can also lead to liver cancer.

How does fatty liver develop into liver cancer? In addition to eating too much, what eating habits are related to liver cancer? Let us take a look at the problem together.

1. The Lancet: The incidence of fatty liver is as high as 25%, how far is it from liver cancer?

A research review on non-alcoholic fatty liver published by the international authoritative journal The Lancet in 2021 pointed out that globally, the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is 25%, and it is the main cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. reason .

A meta-analysis of liver biopsy samples from patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease found that patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease progressed to liver fibrosis within an average of 7.1 and 14.3 years. The severity of liver fibrosis is critical for liver disease prognosis and overall mortality.

Another meta-analysis involving more than 4,000 patients with NAFLD found that patients with advanced liver fibrosis (i.e., cirrhosis) had a 243% increase in all-cause mortality compared with patients without liver fibrosis. Liver-related mortality increased by 1013%.

Similarly, a 51-year cohort study in Sweden showed that even mild fatty liver increased the risk of death by up to 71% , and the more severe the fatty liver, the greater the increased risk of death.

The liver fat weight of normal people accounts for about 3%-5% of the liver weight. When there is excessive fat accumulation in the liver, the fat weight accounts for more than 5% of the liver weight, or the liver has more than 5% of the liver weight histologically. Fatty liver is diagnosed when cells develop steatosis.

Most patients with fatty liver belong to non-alcoholic fatty liver, that is, the cause of fatty liver is not excessive drinking, but is mostly related to unhealthy lifestyle, such as obesity, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits .

The development of non-alcoholic fatty liver to liver cancer often only needs 4 steps: fatty liver → steatohepatitis → liver fibrosis → liver cirrhosis → liver cancer .

In addition to liver cancer, NAFLD may lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and endocrine disorders such as hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, hypopituitarism, polycystic ovary syndrome, and hypercortisolism).

Many people may think that people who are often big fish and seldom exercise will get fatty liver, but this is not the case.

Eating meat can indeed lead to fatty liver, because meat is high in fat, eating too much meat will lead to excess energy intake in the body , and excess nutrients will be converted into fat and stored in the liver. Therefore, obesity can easily lead to fatty liver, which is also known as overnutrition fatty liver in medicine.

In addition to eating meat, in fact only vegetarians may also suffer from fatty liver .

This is because a long-term vegetarian diet will result in an unbalanced intake of nutrients, resulting in a lack of protein in the body, and the liver needs the assistance of protein to metabolize fat, which will cause fat transfer disorders and cause fat to accumulate in the liver.

Second, liver cancer is "eat" out? 4 foods to get off the table early

Generally speaking, the carcinogenic factors of liver cancer are mostly related to alcohol, emotions, etc., but from the above content we can understand that liver cancer has a great relationship with dietary patterns.

Therefore, if you often eat the following foods, it will continue to increase the burden on the liver.

1. Freshwater sashimi

There are many parasites in freshwater fish, and eating raw freshwater fish fillets is easy to infect parasites, especially liver flukes , and methods such as mustard and dipping sauces are difficult to kill these parasites. Severe liver fluke infection will develop ascites, liver cirrhosis, and even liver cancer in the advanced stage.

2. Moldy and spoiled food

Moldy and spoiled food contains a large amount of aflatoxin, which is highly toxic and carcinogenic, and is particularly prone to induce liver cancer.

Therefore, if you find that the food is spoiled, damp, moldy, and bacteria grow, you should throw it away in time.

3. Pickled food such as salted fish

Pickled foods such as salted fish and pickled vegetables will produce a large amount of nitrite during the pickling process, and nitrite can be converted into carcinogens nitrosamines in the stomach, which in turn induces cancers such as liver cancer.

Therefore, usually eat less pickled food, pay attention to control the pickling time when making pickled vegetables, and do not eat pickled food that is too short or too long, or that is contaminated by miscellaneous bacteria .

4. Various drinks

Alcohol can hinder the liver from breaking down fatty acids, which in turn leads to the accumulation of a large amount of fatty acids in the liver, which can easily lead to alcoholic fatty liver disease for a long time. With the development of the disease, alcoholic fatty liver will gradually deteriorate into alcoholic hepatitis, then alcoholic cirrhosis, and eventually lead to liver cancer.

Therefore, if you can drink less alcohol, you should drink as little as possible. If you really want to drink, you should control your daily alcohol intake within 25 grams for men and 15 grams for women.

In daily life, if there are symptoms such as liver palm, liver pain, spider nevus, yellowing of the white of the eyes, indigestion , etc., you must be vigilant. These are common symptoms of liver cancer, and you should go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible to rule out the cause.

3. To prevent liver cancer, we must learn to "reduce weight" for the liver

Fatty liver is a reversible disease, which is mainly related to overweight and obesity caused by unhealthy lifestyle. Therefore, fatty liver can be prevented and improved through diet, exercise and weight.

1. Eat a healthy diet

Three meals a day should be regular, regular and quantitative. Try to avoid high-calorie, high-fat and high-cholesterol diets; eat less sweets and carbohydrates such as sugar, jam and honey, eat less animal offal and fried foods, and stay away from tobacco and alcohol.

You can eat more protein, such as lean meat, fish and eggs, which are high in high-quality protein. In addition, ensure adequate intake of vitamins, dietary fiber and minerals, and eat more fresh vegetables, fruits and algae.

2. Strengthen exercise

Studies have found that exercising more than 3 hours a week can effectively reduce the risk of liver disease . Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen daily exercise, at least 3 hours of exercise time per week, and moderate exercise intensity, such as running, climbing, swimming, etc.

3. Weight control

People who are overweight and obese should lose weight through diet and exercise. If necessary, weight loss treatment can be carried out under the guidance of a doctor. Generally speaking, when the body weight is reduced by 5%-10%, the fatty liver condition can be alleviated, and even gradually disappear .

Fatty liver is often caused by obesity or poor eating habits. If fatty liver is left unchecked, it will gradually develop into hepatitis, liver fibrosis, and even liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Therefore, we must develop a healthy lifestyle every day, pay attention to balanced nutrition, drink less alcohol, eat less high-calorie, high-cholesterol and high-fat foods, exercise properly, and control our weight well, so as to stay away from fatty liver and liver cancer.

References:

[1]Powell, E.E., Wong, V.W.-S. and Rinella, M. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,The Lancet, 2021,397(10290), pp. 2212–2224.

[2] Be careful with fatty liver! Four steps from fatty liver to liver cancer! Remember how to save every step of the way! .Health Times.2018-06-03

[3] Beware of fatty liver becoming the accomplice of liver cancer. Life Times. 2018-10-29

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