by Bianka Wiebner
(12.30.2019) The trend theme “minimalism” has established itself as a way of life. Dispensing with consumption, reduced living, no car – less should make you happier and more free.
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The book by a Japanese clean-up expert is a worldwide bestseller and the successful German film “100 Things” also addresses the issue of doing without. The German Liver Foundation explains how a less can also be more for 2020 in the important area of nutrition, and calls for eating more consciously and healthily in the new year: “Minimalism” in nutrition is an important contribution to liver health.
Not only are apartments often too crowded, but also many bodies and especially the vital organ liver are more and more “stuffed”. Overweight and obesity (caused by unhealthy diet combined with lack of exercise) are increasingly the cause of the development and manifestation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
In Germany, one in four Germans over the age of 40 is already affected and one in three overweight children suffers from this disease – and the trend is rising: Estimates assume that around 20 million US and Europeans will develop non-alcoholic liver inflammation in 2025. “In most cases, the non-alcoholic fatty liver arises as a result of the so-called metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome, also known as insulin resistance syndrome or metabolic-vascular syndrome, is characterized by the common occurrence of various symptoms and clinical pictures, ”explains Professor Dr. Michael P. Manns, Chairman of the Board of the German Liver Foundation, adds: “Obesity is part of this, and abdominal fat in particular is a particular risk factor, a permanently elevated blood sugar level, increased blood lipid levels and high blood pressure. Unhealthy diet and lack of exercise are usually the cause of the metabolic syndrome. The imbalance between calorie intake and consumption creates the four vascular-damaging risk factors. If the body is constantly fed more calories than it can burn, the excess energy is stored in the form of fat – not only in the fat tissue, but also in the liver. ”
“Eating with the head”
As early as the end of the 19th century, the German philosopher Friedrich W. Nietzsche formulated: “You have to eat not only with your mouth, but also with your head, so that you do not die of the nibbling of your mouth.” Numerous studies show that there is a connection between eating habits, obesity and the development of diseases and the growth of certain types of tumors. “It has been proven that the oncogenic risk factors of nicotine and alcohol consumption, overweight, obesity and lack of exercise also play a decisive role in some liver cell cancer diseases (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC). All of the risk factors mentioned can be avoided, which is why the German Liver Foundation is appealing to the responsibility at the start of the new year that everyone should take over for their health, ”says Professor Manns.
In addition to the individual options that every consumer has when implementing a lifestyle change in the sense of “nutritional minimalism” as a resolution for 2020, health policy and preventive measures are also necessary to facilitate future changes. In addition to economic incentives such as taxes on sweetened beverages and sugar, the introduction of an understandable food labeling system with the NutriScore traffic light scale could help people do more for their liver health by eating less sugar or less fat.
The German Liver Foundation deals with the liver, liver diseases and their treatments. It aims to improve patient care. Through intensive public relations work, the foundation increases public awareness of liver diseases so that they can be recognized and cured earlier. The German Liver Foundation also provides information and advice for those affected and their families, as well as for doctors and pharmacists in medical matters. The foundation fulfills these tasks very successfully.
Further information: www.deutsche-leberstiftung.de,
BOOK TIP: “The Liver Book” of the German Liver Foundation provides comprehensive and generally understandable information about the liver, liver diseases, their diagnoses and therapies – now in a third, updated and expanded edition! “The liver book” is available in bookstores: ISBN 978-3-89993-899-9, 16.99 euros.
Further information: www.deutsche-leberstiftung.de/Leber-Buch,
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