Exercise 101 and Fats in the Liver

You don’t drink alcohol but you’ve been told that fat accumulates in your liver. Fatty liver is linked to diseases like obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Exercises and diet can help mobilize and take away fat from the liver.

Types of Exercise. Exercise is movement of the body that use up energy. It is an activity that is planned, structured and repetitive. Exercises are grouped according to the intensity, frequency and duration of movement. Aerobic exercises move the large muscles of the legs and arms. Movement is continuous and in rhythm. Resistance exercises put load on specific muscle groups to increase its strength, tone and mass. Flexibility exercises like stretching, aim to increase joint range of motion and muscle extensibility. To mobilize fats from the liver, aerobic exercises are recommended.

Intensity and Duration of Exercises. In terms of intensity there are five groups of exercises based on oxygen consumption: very light, light, moderate, vigorous and near maximal/maximal. There are two groups of exercise duration: high duration (daily exercise at least 60 minutes) and low duration (anything below high duration).

Triglycerides and Exercises. Fats in the body is stored as triglycerides. In a study, persons with fatty liver who exercised achieved a mean 30.2% drop in liver triglycerides. Those with fatty liver but did not exercise only had a mean 5.6% drop in liver triglycerides. Persons with fatty liver and were treated with diet and exercise had a mean 49.8% drop in liver triglycerides.

Fat can be mobilized and removed from the liver through exercises. Combining exercise with proper removed more fat. The reduction in liver fat was observed even in those who exercised and did not lose weight. The study also found out that any type of exercise can lower triglycerides in the liver.

Fats in the liver? Let’s move it, move it.

Golabi P, Locklear C, et al. Effectiveness of exercise in hepatic fat mobilization in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Systematic review. World J Gastroenterol 2016 July 21; 22(27): 6318-6327