National Nutrition Week: Eat right to keep liver healthy

Fatty livers are 10 per cent more in Indians as compared to people from the west. While the exact reason for this not known yet,  increased intake of carbohydrates is one of the reasons and overfeeding of newborn babies results in fatty liver in the infants.

Obesity is one of the major reasons for fatty liver and 18 per cent of the population are metabolically obese and the threat posed by fat in the liver which could lead to liver cirrhosis and other potentially life-threatening diseases is very high. Fat in the liver is unhealthy and it is important to have a nutritious diet and maintain physical activity to keep liver healthy.

India celebrated its National Nutrition Week recently where many experts participated in different forum and talked about liver problems faced by Indians. The week aims to create awareness among the people and understand how food and lifestyle choices have an impact on health.

One of the speakers mentioned that olive oil is very good as it protects the liver from oxidative stress. It is best to avoid taking fructose - most commonly used in soft drinks and other sweetened carbohydrate beverages as it is not good for body.

Regular exercise and a well balanced diet is the key to having a healthy and functioning liver. Alcohol abuse or metabolic syndrome causes abnormal fat deposition which is  harmful to the liver. People should eat more fruits and vegetables to keep body healthy.