What is NASH Disease?

Drinking too much alcohol won't give you this kind of liver disease — but soda might.

Transcript

00:00Defining the larger disease is when the liver stores fat abnormally, NASH is when the liver

00:27responds inappropriately to that fat storage.

00:31We don't know what causes it, but the liver becomes angry or inflamed, and that's a reaction

00:36to that fat being there, we think.

00:58There are individuals and groups that are studying high fructose corn syrup and processed

01:04foods and many types of environmental components that are much more part of the way that food

01:11doesn't come out of the earth, but the way that it's processed, that may be contributing

01:16to this disease.

01:17When I was diagnosed with my liver disease, I was always sort of like ordering food, a

01:24lot of greasy food, a lot of comfort food, a lot of carbs-heavy food.

01:38Those are the environmental components that are part of sort of the Western culture that

01:42has now moved into the global world.

01:44This disease in particular, but liver diseases in general, often are very, very silent.

01:49The vast majority of people with any type of liver disease, but particularly this one,

01:53don't feel anything.

02:02I converted to a more plant-based diet initially.

02:05I started first with, let me try with one week of not eating meat, and I realized that

02:10that wasn't as difficult as it was, so the following week I decided, you know, let me

02:15try cutting down or removing eggs and dairy, and I also drastically improved my fitness.

02:23So I started going to the gym more regularly.

02:31They don't always have to be super obese.

02:33Maintaining a normal weight, in general, is protective of many of these types of diseases,

02:39diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, but it is not completely protective.

02:45I think one of the things we have to be very aware of is that you can do everything right

02:52and still have a disease.

02:53It's not someone's fault, okay?

02:56The point is not to blame someone for developing a disease, but there are many activities that

03:01you can do to help improve your overall health and reduce risk.