New Delhi, April 18
Medical experts on Friday emphasised the critical link between dietary habits and liver health, saying that healthy changes today can cut liver disease risk by 50 per cent.
Ahead of the World Liver Day which falls on April 19, healthcare experts said that food is medicine, as cases of liver diseases among both urban and rural populations rise in the country.
Doctors said that liver disease is no longer confined to alcohol abuse — there is a worrying rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) due to unhealthy eating patterns, obesity, and lack of exercise.
A recent large-scale study published in Frontiers in Nutrition has reinforced the critical role of diet in liver health.
Analysing data from over 121,000 participants in the UK Biobank, researchers found that individuals consuming diets with higher pro-inflammatory potential— measured by the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) — had a 16 per cent increased risk of developing chronic liver disease (CLD).
Adherence to anti-inflammatory dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet and those scoring high on the Healthy Eating Index 2020, was associated with a reduced risk of CLD.