Well, everyone has heard of the chicken and the egg story, but what about the fatty liver and diabetes story?

According to research revealed by Dr. Michael Greger, author of my favorite book How Not To Die and founder of Nutritionfacts.org, it is not a coincidence that patients with Fatty Liver Disease also develop Type 2 Diabetes.

Which comes first, you might ask? 

 Let me break down the sequence of events that often occur in a typical western diet, also referred to as the SAD (Standard American Diet).

The development of type 2 diabetes doesn't happen over night. It is most often a silent disease that progresses over years, or even a decade. Eating a diet high in animal products and processed foods, contributes to an over consumption of saturated fats. Done on a daily basis, first the muscles become insulin resistant and when they no longer can take in the excess fat, the liver is next in line.

One of the main responsibilities of the liver is to pump out glucose to feed our brain during our fasting state and give us the fuel we need to go about our busy days.  Fat cells expand in size to accommodate a constant supply of fat from the SAD,  Keto or Low Carb fad diets to a point that they can hold no more.  Fat then begins to fill muscle cells and then the liver.  Now the liver, being the hard worker and fat cell pleaser that it is, invites all these fat cells in and now is so stuffed that it too becomes insulin resistant. The liver just gets fattier and FATTIER! 

Normally, when we eat a meal, a healthy liver will get a signal to stop putting out glucose because you just ate food that will be broken down into glucose, and the liver can finally take a rest. Once excessive fat storage has occurred, the liver no longer receives the signals sent when we eat a meal, so it continuously pumps out more glucose. Now the pancreas senses all this excess glucose in the blood and pumps out more insulin attempting to convince the muscles and liver to let the glucose in, but they are both too full!

So the muscles are full of fat, the liver is full of fat, and both the liver and pancreas are over worked and exhausted. 

Do you see where I'm going with this vicious cycle?

There is a solution. That's right! A plant based low fat diet has proven to be the most effective and safest solution to eliminating fat storage from the liver which decreases your risk of a diagnosis of Fatty Liver Disease and Type 2 Diabetes. 

Please seek nutritional truth, eat lots of plants, and strive for optimal wellbeing. You Got This!

Michelle Mohan, NBC-HWC, CNWE