Liver

Hello,

I know we have covered fructose and its effects on the liver, but could you please explain once more what happens in the liver after consuming fructose? And I've heard that glucose-fructose syrup is even worse.

Thank you.

Excessive fructose intake is associated with the overgrowth of certain gut bacteria and subsequently increased intestinal permeability. Bacteria contain endotoxins, which promote increased production of inflammatory substances (cytokines) in some liver cells. Simultaneously, during fructose metabolism in the liver, substances are formed (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, pyruvate) that are transported into mitochondria at high concentrations, leading to the stimulation of a process called de novo lipogenesis (excess carbohydrates are converted into fat because this metabolic state prevents fatty acids from entering the mitochondria). The resulting fat particles are then deposited in the liver and support the development of steatosis. High-fructose corn syrup is a source of fructose, and it should be avoided just like all other "artificial" sources of this sugar.

Good day Mr. Jelínek,

Do I understand correctly that fatty liver disease can be treated with diet? And when a person starts losing weight, do they use liver fat as an energy source?

Thank you.

Hepatic steatosis is not only treatable but also curable. The foundation of success is a properly set diet and the adequate amount of invested time necessary for the dietary system adjustment to take effect. The excess fat from the liver is still reserve fat, which means it is used as a source of energy.

Hello,
I am curious why cruciferous vegetables (therapeutically in larger amounts) are associated with liver support when they contain goitrogenic glucosinolates, which in larger amounts lead to liver damage?
Thank you for the explanation.

When evaluating the health impact of food consumption, it is important to consider it holistically rather than pharmacologically. Every food contains a wide spectrum of different substances with significantly different impacts on metabolism. Some of these are beneficial, while others are harmful. The situation is further complicated by the fact that one substance can positively affect a particular organ or system while simultaneously burdening another organ.

It is also necessary to properly understand the meaning of "greater amounts" of substance intake. The effect of any substance depends on its concentration and the amount ingested—any substance can act as either a poison or a "medicine" in the same situation.

For these reasons, it is not possible to view food in a pharmacological way, where the effect of one substance is monitored instead of an innumerable mixture, which we are not even able to thoroughly analyze. Among other things, these reasons have led to legislation prohibiting the association of foods with any medicinal effects...

In practice, therefore, the approach is to limit the amount of foods with higher concentrations of certain substances on the daily plate concerning specific diseases (typically cruciferous vegetables in hypothyroidism, foods with a higher proportion of histamine in histamine intolerance, etc.).

In the case of cruciferous vegetables, the influence of glucosinolate breakdown products on increased liver bleeding is most often cited. However, consider this as general information since the extent of glucosinolate effects varies among individual mammals (it does not mean that regular consumption of cabbage or broccoli would destroy the liver). On the contrary, these types of vegetables contain a range of other substances with a positive impact on the behavior of liver cells.

Can the liver produce cholesterol even from purely plant-based fats?

The production of cholesterol is not dependent on the proportion of animal-derived foods in the diet. This substance is formed (in simplified terms) from fatty acids (contained in fats), from which the body creates acetyl coenzyme A. From this, mevalonate and squalene are formed, with the end product of this reaction being cholesterol. In this way, over 1000 mg of cholesterol is created every day in the body of an adult human.

Hello,
can people with transplanted liver also use Schisandra, please?
Thank you for your response.

This combination should always be approved by the attending physician. However, it is highly probable that they will be against it, as Schisandra affects the function of drugs that are metabolized in the liver (Schisandra supports liver function), and an increase in the blood level of tacrolimus (an immunosuppressant) has been proven in patients after liver transplantation.

Good day, Mr. Jelinek,

I would like to inquire about vitamin A during pregnancy. I have read a book by Sally Fallon - The Nourishing Traditions, Book of Baby and Child Care, which indeed refutes studies about the harmfulness of vitamin A. On the contrary, it warns against the deficiency of this vitamin, which can lead to developmental defects of the fetus and miscarriage. The author recommends the consumption of liver and fish oil for optimal fetal development. I am interested in where the truth lies, and on which studies your recommendation to avoid vitamin A is based. For completeness, I am providing information from the book.

Thank you very much.

Here is a citation from the book:
VITAMIN A AND FETAL DEVELOPMENT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government agencies warn pregnant women to avoid foods like liver and cod liver oil, claiming that too much vitamin A from these foods can cause birth defects.

The claim that intakes of vitamin A over 10,000 IU per day can increase the risk of birth defects can be traced back to a 1995 paper published by a group of researchers at Boston University. The researchers followed almost twenty-three thousand women over the course of their pregnancies and found that women who consumed more than 10,000 IU vitamin A during the first trimester gave birth to offspring with a greater risk of certain types of birth defects.

However, the study had some serious flaws. Most of the vitamin A came from multivitamins. The authors did not distinguish between various food sources—and most “food” vitamin A comes from fortified breakfast cereals—so the cause of the birth defects may well have been something else in the multivitamins or in the cereals. Three groups of experts wrote to the journal questioning the authors’ classification of the types of defects.

Most importantly, the authors may have underestimated the rate of certain types of birth defects in the group with low vitamin A intake. The rate of total birth defects among the twenty thousand women consuming less than 10,000 IU was only 1.5 percent; by contrast, the generally accepted background rate is 3-4 percent. The rate of defects among the three thousand women consuming more than 10,000 IU of vitamin A was 3 percent—on the lower end of normal.

The most serious objection to this study is the fact that it conflicts with all the other evidence. For example, a 1990 study conducted in Spain found that among twenty-five thousand births, doses of vitamin A over 40,000 IU per day carried a 2.7-fold higher risk of birth defects, but doses of vitamin A up to 20,000 IU or between 20,000 and 40,000 IU both carried a 50 percent lower risk of birth defects compared to no supplementation.

A 1996 study of over five hundred thousand births found that the children of women supplementing with at least 10,000 IU of vitamin A in addition to a multivitamin had a lower risk of birth defects than those of women who did not supplement, although the association could not be distinguished from the effects of chance.

A 1997 study of fifteen hundred births found no relationship between birth defects and use of vitamin A supplements, fortified breakfast cereals, organ meats or liver.

A 1999 prospective study of three hundred eleven mothers who consumed between 10,000 and 300,000 IU of vitamin A in the first trimester and a similarly sized group that did not supplement with vitamin A found no evidence of an increased risk of major malformations with increasing dose. The median dose was 50,000 IU.

The supplemented group as a whole had a 50 percent lower risk of major malformations than those who did not supplement, and there were no major malformations in offspring born to mothers consuming more than 50,000 IU.

The preponderance of the evidence clearly favors the view that 20,000 IU of supplemental vitamin A per day during pregnancy is safe and may even reduce the risk of birth defects.

The issue of recommended daily allowances (RDAs, or reference intake values) is somewhat unfortunate because it is related to an averaged population, thereby sidelining the requirements of individuals as metabolic individualities. The result in practice is situations where each study demonstrates slightly different results, and these discrepancies are further magnified in significance by differing interpretations. In such studies, it is also necessary to distinguish situations where the precisely defined intake of a given substance is assessed (which can only be achieved through the use of dietary supplements) or monitor the proportion of nutrients in the diet, where it is impossible to define specific values, as we never know how much of a monitored substance is found in foods (we can always only assess an average, which is moreover highly approximate).

With vitamin A, I personally do not see an issue with its overdose in terms of negative health impacts (such situations are relatively rare and almost always relate to inappropriate handling of dietary supplements). However, higher doses during pregnancy seem to contribute to fetal growth (larger babies are born, which is understandably a source of birth complications). This information can still be disputed, as it appears that higher doses of other micronutrients may also be responsible for this effect, which is generally an issue with the use of primarily multivitamins. The fact is, in the last two decades, supplement manufacturers have been following legislative regulations, which hold that higher doses of vitamin A during pregnancy are risky and have enshrined this within the health claims that may/must be presented with supplements.

In terms of development principles, it is clear that opinions based on new studies will continue to emerge; however, it generally holds true that at the legislative level, it always takes a longer time for any (significant) change to occur—especially when it involves situations related to public health.

Hello,
why is it not advisable to eat organ meats, specifically liver, when they contain a range of vitamins, minerals, and proteins?
Thank you.

It is not that this food group is entirely unsuitable for consumption; in fact, it is a rich source of a wide range of substances. However, it is important to consider that the body tends to store toxins in these organs, so it is wise to evaluate the overall benefit of their consumption.