Encouraging research published today shows that just four days of a low carb high fat diet can reverse dangerous fat buildup in the liver (known as liver TG). Fatty liver is linked to problems with insulin and blood fats and we know thatmany people with Type 2 diabetes also have fatty liver. This liver fat can change quickly when people eat a better diet.
A Danish research team set out to find out if eating a low-carb, high-fat diet for just four days would lower liver fat and also if these changes in liver fat would affect how the liver handles sugars and fats. They also tested what happened to the liver if people ate a high-carb low fat diet.
How was the study done?
This study was carried out on a group of men who followed a low-carb (LC) diet for 4 days and a high-carb (HC) diet for 4 days, with at least 2 weeks in between. They used a special type of MRI to measure liver fat and conducted various metabolic tests before and after each diet. The LC diet consisted of 11% carbohydrates (around 102 grams per day) and 70% fat, while the HC diet consisted of 65% carbohydrates (around 537 grams per day) and 16% fat.
The researchers measured how much glucose the liver made, how it broke down fat, how insulin sensitive the men were, and how the body used energy.
Results
Eleven overweight or obese men (average BMI of 31.6) completed both diets. The low-carb diet reduced liver fat by over a third (35%) from an average of 4.9% to 2.9%, while the high-carb diet showed no change.
After the low carb diet, fat burning and ketones increased, while markers of new fat creation (DNL) decreased. Levels of other blood fats and insulin also went down, and liver insulin sensitivity improved. There was no change in how the body processed glucose outside the liver.
Conclusions
Eating fewer carbs and more fat for four days significantly reduced liver fat and improved liver insulin sensitivity. Increased fat burning and ketone production, along with lower fat creation, seem to be responsible for reducing liver fat. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04581421.
Volume 120, Issue 2, August 2024, Pages 283-293
Research funded by the Danish Diabetes Academy
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