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Support Your Liver Health With Almased

Written by Hannah.T, PhD | Reviewed by Jamie, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Are you worried about your liver health? Whether you drink alcohol or not, you may be at risk of fatty liver diseases.

The Liver Has Hundreds of Functions

The liver is the largest organ in the body and serves many important roles.1 A crucial job of a healthy liver is to remove toxins and waste from the body.1 Liver cells also help with digestion and store sugar for future use.1 If the liver is diseased, many parts of your health may suffer.

Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Heavy drinkers can face serious liver function problems. Although the liver’s job is to get rid of alcohol, too much alcohol can damage liver tissue.1 

There are three major types of alcohol-associated liver diseases.1 Two types, cirrhosis and hepatitis, usually occur after years and years of heavy drinking.1 Hepatitis is when liver tissue becomes inflamed (red and swollen).1 Cirrhosis is more serious liver damage that leads to scarring and sometimes liver failure.1

The third type is alcoholic fatty liver disease, recently renamed steatotic liver disease.2 Steatosis is the word for when fat builds up within the liver and causes it to become enlarged.1 Steatotic liver disease is the most common of the chronic liver diseases.1 

Alcohol-related steatotic liver disease can progress to more serious hepatitis or eventually cirrhosis.1 So, it’s important to take steps to prevent the disease from becoming worse. If you have an alcohol-related liver disease, you should limit or stop drinking.1

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is very similar to the alcohol-related kind. Fat builds up inside the liver.3 But, this type of disease can show up in people who drink very little or no alcohol.2 Instead of alcohol causing liver damage, the culprit is your metabolism (food breakdown).2

Recently, experts have renamed NAFLD. It’s now called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).2 

The names might get a little confusing if you search for articles to read more in-depth. You will still see some websites and articles using NAFLD or fatty liver disease.3 Other sites have switched to MASLD.2 

The goal of the name change is to be more specific by mentioning metabolism.2 Using “steatotic” removes some of the stigma related to the word fat.2 For the rest of this article, we’ll use MASLD to refer to fatty liver disease that is not related to alcohol.

MASLD Is Becoming More Common

As obesity rates rise, the world is also seeing an increase in MASLD.3 It’s estimated that 25% of the world is affected by this liver disease.3 The number of cases is higher in places with higher rates of obesity, like Europe and the United States.3 Approximately 100 million Americans have MASLD.3 Many people don’t know they have it.

You May Not Experience Any Symptoms

More often than not, you won’t have any symptoms that point to liver disease.3 If you do have symptoms, it’ll likely be fatigue or generally not feeling well.3 You might also have some abdominal pain in the upper right side of the stomach.3 

Your doctor may first notice the disease if you have high liver enzyme levels in your blood.2 Liver enzymes are a type of molecule. To confirm the diagnosis, they might take images of your liver or take a small tissue sample (biopsy).2 The biopsy can help them tell if you have early stages of liver disease or if it has progressed.2

MASLD Can Become More Serious

MASLD can progress to a more serious liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)2 or, under the new name changes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).2 In steatohepatitis, the liver cells are inflamed and can start to scar.3 Scientists don’t yet know why MASLD sometimes becomes MASH and other times it doesn’t.3

If your disease progresses, symptoms may get worse.3 Symptoms of liver damage from MASH or alcohol-related hepatitis or cirrhosis include:

  • Swelling of the abdomen, legs, feet, and hands;

  • Yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice);

  • Itchy skin;

  • Shortness of breath;

  • Nausea;

  • Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss;

  • Red palms; and

  • Blood vessels show up under the skin.2,3

Eventually, cirrhosis can lead to liver cancer.2 See a healthcare provider if you have these symptoms and think you may have liver disease.

Cardiometabolic Factors Put You at Risk

Excessive alcohol consumption is the major risk factor for alcohol-associated steatotic liver disease.1 If you are female, you’ll fall under the category of “heavy drinker” if you have 4+ drinks a day or 8+ drinks in a week. If you’re male, the cutoff is 5+ in a single day or 15+ per week.1 

The major risk factors for MASLD are related to your heart and food breakdown.2 Those two processes are closely related and are collectively called “cardiometabolic factors”.2 

The cardiometabolic factors that put you at risk for MASLD are obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and fat (triglycerides) in your blood.2 Insulin resistance (when your body doesn’t balance blood sugar correctly) is another concern.2 If a family member has liver disease, you may be more likely to have it, too.3

In some cases, fat buildup in your liver is caused by medications, including: 

  • Steroids;

  • Amiodarone (to treat arrhythmia);

  • Diltiazem (to treat high blood pressure or chest pain); or

  • Tamoxifen (to treat some types of breast cancer).2

Talk to your doctor if you have symptoms of liver disease while on one of these medications.

Manage Your Risks With Fatty Liver Supplements Like Almased

The best way to “treat” these liver diseases is to lower the risk of them getting worse.2 For alcohol-related steatotic liver disease, that means drinking less. For MASLD, it usually means losing weight.2 Depending on your other risks, you should also manage metabolic syndrome factors like cholesterol and blood pressure.2 

Fortunately, there’s a delicious and nutritious way to manage your risk! Almased shakes are fatty liver supplements made from a blend of soy, yogurt, and honey.4 Almased diet plans have undergone rigorous scientific studies, and the results are clear: Almased can support liver health.4

Almased Is Effective at Lowering Liver Fat Content

Scientists developed a rigorous 6-month study to see how Almased affects the liver.5 

Half of the study volunteers were assigned to the Almased group. They replaced 2 meals per day with Almased for 6 weeks. For the following 18 weeks, they replaced 1 meal per day with Almased and maintained a low-fat diet.5

The remaining half of the volunteers were in the lifestyle changes group. Nutrition experts helped them develop a well-balanced diet and learn about physical exercise.5

The scientists examined all participants for liver fat accumulation. They used a technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which graphs the content of your organs.5 After some calculations, they came up with a number for the amount of fat inside the liver tissue.5

After the whole study, the researchers found that everyone had improvements in their liver fat.5 Both the Almased group and the diet and lifestyle changes group lost weight and body fat, too. Weight loss was correlated with the improvement in liver fat.5 The researchers concluded that Almased and lifestyle changes can both help manage liver fat.5 

But that’s not all Almased can do! Almased is an effective supplement for fatty liver risk factors, too. 

Almased Lowers Other Risk Factors

The ACOORH (Almased Concept against Overweight and Obesity and Related Health Risk) clinical trial was a large, international study. It looked at the effects of Almased on many cardiometabolic risk factors.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a normal and important part of your body, but too much of it can cause problems.6 High cholesterol can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and steatotic liver disease.3,6  There are a few ways to measure cholesterol with blood tests: total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).6 LDL is sometimes called the “bad” cholesterol because too much LDL can clog your blood vessels and cause heart disease.6 

In the ACOORH studies, researchers found that both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol decreased significantly in people who used Almased.7 The decrease in cholesterol was greater in the Almased group than in the lifestyle intervention group.7 Importantly, the lower cholesterol remained even a year later.7 So, Almased can lower the risk of liver disease stemming from high cholesterol.

Blood Sugar

Two risk factors for MASLD are related to blood sugar: diabetes and insulin resistance.3 Insulin helps store blood sugar in liver cells.8 When insulin levels are too high, your body starts ignoring the insulin.8  This is called insulin resistance, and it can cause type 2 diabetes.8 So, managing insulin levels is important to lower your risk of diabetes and liver disease.

In the ACOORH trial, people who replaced their meals with Almased had improvements in blood insulin levels.9 When they stopped Almased, their insulin went up (and so did their weight).9 The improved insulin was accompanied by lower inflammation.9 What’s more, prediabetic people had big improvements in their blood sugar readings after taking Almased.10 In fact, the measurements returned to normal.10 

Together, these studies show that a diet with Almased is diabetic-friendly and can support liver function.

Blood Pressure

High blood pressure can put you at risk for MASLD, too. Fortunately, Almased has been shown to lower blood pressure.11 In the ACOORH trial, researchers looked at “high-risk” people with higher than normal blood pressure.11 They found blood pressure decreased more in the Almased group than in the diet and lifestyle changes group.11

Almased Helps You Lose Weight

Overall health for overweight people is closely tied to losing weight. Almased boosts weight loss in the long term.7 The ACOORH studies found that Almased helped people lose an average of 8.8 lbs (4.0 kg) in just 4 weeks!7 The Almased group still had lower weight a year later.7

The high-protein low-carb formula is so successful because it curbs your appetite and gives you more energy.12 You’ll see body fat disappear, and the number on your scale will get lower and lower.12 Since overweight and obesity are major predictors of liver disease risk, you’ll be helping your future self in more ways than one.3

Almased Has an Ideal Amino Acid Profile

Most healthcare providers will recommend a healthy diet that’s low in sugar and high in lean proteins to help you lose body weight for liver disease.2 Almased shakes are fatty liver supplements that are both low in sugar and high in protein to support liver health!

With over 27 grams of protein, Almased is packed full of important amino acids. Each serving of the shake has essential amino acids like lysine (1500 mg), threonine (900 mg), and phenylalanine (1300 mg) that help your body function. Plus, it has branched-chain amino acids that support muscle growth, like leucine (2100 mg) and isoleucine (1300 mg). 

The Almased smoothie also has over 4 grams of vitamin E, a nutrient that may help treat MASLD.13 That’s just one more way Almased is a great fatty liver supplement to enhance liver function! 

If you’re tired of the neverending cycle of dieting and weight gain, Almased is the answer you’ve been looking for. Check out all the powerful ingredients and give Almased a try today.

Sources

  1. Alcohol-associated liver disease. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Published November 21, 2023. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/alcoholinduced-liver-disease

  2. Steatotic (fatty) liver disease. Cleveland Clinic. Updated September 27, 2023. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15831-fatty-liver-disease

  3. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. Published October 6, 2023. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20354567

  4. Berg A, McCarthy HD. A soy-yoghurt-honey product as a therapeutic functional food: mode of action and narrative review. Heliyon. 2022;8(11):e11011. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11011

  5. Deibert P, Lazaro A, Schaffner D, et al. Comprehensive lifestyle intervention vs soy protein-based meal regimen in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. World J Gastroenterol. 2019;25(9):1116-1131. doi:10.3748/wjg.v25.i9.1116

  6. What is blood cholesterol? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. Published March 24, 2022. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/blood-cholesterol

  7. Halle M, Röhling M, Banzer W, et al. Meal replacement by formula diet reduces weight more than a lifestyle intervention alone in patients with overweight or obesity and accompanied cardiovascular risk factors-the ACOORH trial. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2021;75(4):661-669. doi:10.1038/s41430-020-00783-4

  8. CDC. The insulin resistance–diabetes connection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Published June 20, 2022. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/insulin-resistance.html

  9. Kempf K, Röhling M, Banzer W, et al. High-protein, low-glycaemic meal replacement decreases fasting insulin and inflammation markers—a 12-month subanalysis of the ACOORH trial. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1433. doi:10.3390/nu13051433

  10. Röhling M, Kempf K, Banzer W, et al. Prediabetes conversion to normoglycemia is superior adding a low-carbohydrate and energy deficit formula diet to lifestyle intervention—a 12-month subanalysis of the ACOORH trial. Nutrients. 2020;12(7):2022. doi:10.3390/nu12072022

  11. Röhling M, Kempf K, Banzer W, et al. A high-protein and low-glycemic formula diet improves blood pressure and other hemodynamic parameters in high-risk individuals. Nutrients. 2022;14(7):1443. doi:10.3390/nu14071443

  12. Kempf K, Röhling M, Banzer W, et al. Early and strong leptin reduction is predictive for long-term weight loss during high-protein, low-glycaemic meal replacement—a subanalysis of the randomised-controlled ACOORH Trial. Nutrients. 2022;14(12):2537. doi:10.3390/nu14122537

  13. Hadi HE, Vettor R, Rossato M. Vitamin E as a treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: reality or myth? Antioxidants (Basel). 2018;7(1):12. doi:10.3390/antiox7010012

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