Nutrition Videos

Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis. I'm a doctor and I specialize in medical nutrition and metabolic disorders. Today, I'm talking about the herbal preparations that seem to help most in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In a previous video, I talked about the ideal diet for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. You should start by watching that video, if you haven't done so already. Or you can watch it after you watch this. Today, I'm presenting the herbs that help, but before I start, I'd like to point out that all the herbs I'll mention have been extensively tested, and although the results that have been published in the studies are impressive, in no case do they constitute a treatment for the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Officially, no institution promotes their use for the treatment of this disease. However, many doctors and healers consider them useful and recommend them in certain cases. Please, do not use them on your own, but only with the help and under the supervision of a doctor that is willing to help you. Even if the doctor has no knowledge or experience on the use of these serbal preparations, they will be able to guide and protect you if your health is at risk. Moreover, for each herb, I'll tell you the best and simplest way to use it. In some cases, it may be as tea, while in other cases, this is not possible. For example, the active ingredients of milk thistle don't pass into water, therefore it's not active if used as tea. In each case, I'll tell you how you can include it in your diet easily and correctly. Let's see these herbs. Milk thistle. Milk thistle is the most famous and the most effective herb for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It has been tested in tens of studies and although the results are not the same in all cases, if you want to try something, milk thistle is the first thing you should try. Many studies have shown that its use protects the liver, which is reflected in the reduction of liver and cholestatic enzymes, as well as in the significant increase of indices that show rejuvenation and regeneration of the liver. Milk thistle is a herb with very powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects and it seems to help the liver a lot. It is also really safe. It has been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine, and its protective action in the liver has been confirmed by rather wide and noteworthy studies. Milk thistle, like some of the herbs I'll mention today, is not active as tea. If you add milk thistle to water and boil it, it won't help you. Its active ingredients do not pass into water. The only way to take it is in dietary supplements. Ginseng. Ginseng is the most famous herb in Asia, where it has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of many conditions, with impressive success rates. Like milk thistle, it has very powerful anti-inflammatory effects and it seems to protect the liver from the adverse effects of toxins and alcohol. Some studies have shown that it increases the liver regeneration after damage or surgery. Studies on humans are much fewer than those carried out for milk thistle, but the results are really promising. Ginseng is widely used in many forms in Asia and all over the world, and, in general, it's very safe. But you should be careful when using it, because it interacts with some drugs, therefore before you decide to use it, you must ask for your doctor's advice. Green tea. You all know green tea as a beverage, but studies have used its extract in the form of a tablet. Today, we're talking about these preparations, not the beverage. You may have heard that green tea has very strong anti-oxidant effects and it has been extensively used for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Studies have shown that it reduces liver enzymes with impressive consistency, as well as the liver inflammation indices. However, these were short-term studies, therefore we're not sure if these benefits last in time. Green tea as a beverage hasn't been tested in similar studies, however, there's no reason why we shouldn't consume it. Licorice. Some studies have shown that licorice has anti-inflammatory effects and protects the liver too. These studies are fewer than the studies on milk thistle and ginseng, but they've shown that it reduces liver enzymes and inflammation indices. However, these are early data and this is not one of the herbs that we try first for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Turmeric. In a previous video, I extensively mentioned the countless benefits of turmeric and its active ingredient, curcumin, for our health. Some studies claim that curcumin protects the liver too, because it reduces the liver enzymes of people with fatty liver and it also reduces the inflammation indices. The dosage used in the studies was 500 mg of curcumin with 5 mg of piperine, for better absorption. As I said in a previous video, 500 mg of curcumin are 2.5 teaspoons of turmeric. This dosage concerns the daily consumption of turmeric, namely the turmeric that should be consumed in one day. Let me remind you that piperine is contained in black pepper. In order to consume 5 mg of piperine, a small amount of black pepper suffices. In contrast to the other herbs I mentioned, turmeric doesn't have to be consumed in the form of a preparation, because it's active exactly as it's used in the food. Curcumin is active either turmeric is cooked or not. If you decide to include turmeric in your diet, you should definitely watch the video where I explain how to do this properly. Garlic. Another miraculous herb that can also be considered a vegetable. You all know that garlic has many effects that significantly benefit your health. But let me remind you that this comes at a significant cost. Garlic is beneficial for our health only if consumed raw. This makes things harder, but some studies claim that we can achieve the same result by consuming cooked garlic with a very small amount of raw onion. The active ingredients of raw onions activate the active ingredients of garlic that have been deactivated by cooking, so that they become active and beneficial again. Most studies have been carried out with garlic preparations, however, and the use of garlic has been shown to reduce liver and cholestatic enzymes. It also reduces inflammation and even fat storage in liver. A really impressive study that monitored 24,000 adults noticed that people that have mentioned daily consumption of raw garlic had 30% lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. As if that weren't enough, the same study concluded that raw garlic seems to reduce the risk of liver cancer by 23%. Of course, this is useful too. We don't have to say much about the safety of garlic. The fact that it is abundant in most cuisines alone guarantees that it's very safe. Ginger. Many of us use ginger roots, which are extensively used to make our food tastier. Some studies have used ginger for its protective action in the liver. Some studies have been published that have used about 1.5-2 g ginger a day in powder form, and they've shown that it reduces liver enzymes, inflammation indices, even cholesterol. In general, it seems to protect the liver of people suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Let me point out that it's almost impossible to consume 1.5-2 g of ginger in your food. But you can manage to do so by consuming ginger powder as tea. Ginger is the only herb I mentioned today that you don't have to consume in tablet form. If you drink a teaspoon of ginger in hot water a day, you can enjoy all its benefits for the liver's health. These are the herbs for which we have the most scientific data that claim that they can help in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Let me remind you that if you decide to use any of the above, you should talk with your doctor, so that they will be able to monitor you. Even if this doctor doesn't know how you can use these herbs to treat this disease, they will be able to monitor you, in order to protect you, if something goes wrong, even if this is highly unlikely. If you decide to try something, you should start with milk thistle in tablets. If you can, enrich your diet with much raw garlic. If you drink a lot of tea, enrich it with ginger and licorice. Finally, you can significantly increase the consumption of turmeric in your food or even in tea. These steps will enrich your diet with liver-protective substances that will help you. If you thought this was interesting, please give us a thumbs up. Share it with people who you think might find it interesting and subscribe to our channel in order to get notified when we upload a video. You can also suggest subjects in the comment section. Thank you very much!