Fatty Liver Disease: should I get another ultrasound?

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #1

Back in 2013 or 2014, I was having an unrelated ultrasound and the doctor decided to have a quick look at my liver. He said I had fatty liver, but “nothing to worry about” (which I’ve since realized means “it’s terrible but everyone has it because everyone eats so badly.”) Back then my AST and ALT results weren’t really all that out of the ordinary.

My ALT and AST results still vary wildly, and I’ve even been slightly high on the ALT result whilst on LCHF. I’ve been LCHF for the past 2 years and quickly lost about 10kg/22lb, but plateaued in terms of weight ever since.

My question is: it is worth getting another ultrasound to have a look at whether my liver is better than it was? And subquestion: is it likely that my liver is now looking good?

                         July '17   August '17 April '18

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(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

The most recent numbers look good, so I would be inclined not to worry, myself. Perhaps the question to ask yourself is what you would do differently, if your liver were still a problem. If there’s nothing you could do, then there’s really no point distressing yourself. After all, you’re already eating keto—what else could you change? If there is other stuff you can do, however, then by all means get the ultrasound.

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #3

Yeah, not much. I go in and out of strictness; for a while there I was even pretty much off all dairy, sweeteners, nuts, etc. It made very little difference. I’m a pretty good boy, as those of us on LCHF go.

(Troy Anthony) #4

Dr Eric Berg believes that keto has the possibility of causing a fatty liver. Reason being that while low insulin dissolves fat in tissue, it causes the liver to store triglycerides in the liver. His fix is to eat a lot of leafy greens and other veggies to help the liver flush itself. He isn’t the first doctor I’ve heard talk about this possibility so could be worth checking out. He doesn’t suggest stopping keto, just suggests that many people doing keto don’t get the proper amount of plant foods to help the liver. I haven’t researched this enough to have my own opinion, but thought it could be worth mentioning…

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

Reminds me of Dorothy Parker’s parody of the old poem: “When he was good, he was very, very good, / but when he was bad, he was better!” :smiley: