With Christmas’ celebrations, many life habits are modified, especially food. For this reason, fat can accumulate in the liver and a disease, known as fatty liver or steatosis, may develop. This occurs for several reasons:
- Increased intake of fats and carbohydrates
- Alcohol intake
- Sedentary lifestyle
Regarding food, to compensate the excesses that are done during the celebrations, it is important to reduce during the rest of the days the amount of high-fat food eaten (red meat, whole dairy, sausages,..) and of food rich in carbohydrates (rice, pasta, cereals, bread, etc.). Soft drinks should be avoided also.
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
For alcohol, it must be calculated the grams of alcohol (ethanol) that are ingested. To do this, both the graduation (which is indicated on the drink label) and the amount of volume consumed must be taken into account and the following equation must be applied:
Volume ingested (in c.c.) x graduation x 0.8 / 100 = grams of ethanol
For example, with a glass of wine (100 c.c.) with a graduation of 13 degrees, the amount of ethanol that is ingested is:
100 c.c. x 13 x 0.8 /100 = 10.4 g of ethanol
Applying this formula, it is calculated that the amount of ethanol contained in a glass of wine ranges from 10-14 gr, a glass of beer between 5-10 gr, a glass of cava between 8-10 gr and a cocktail (gin, rum) between 20-25gr.
In order not to damage the liver, the maximum amount of ethanol that a healthy man can drink per day is 50 g and a woman 30 g. The difference between the amount of ethanol tolerated by men and women is due to the different body weights. And the fact that women produce less alcohol dehydrogenase, which is the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol. It is very important to note that alcohol should always be taken with food because this decreases the amount that is absorbed. It must also be remembered that alcoholic beverages are very caloric, so it is advisable to reduce or avoid their consumption.
Finally, against a sedentary lifestyle and to prevent accumulation of fat in the liver, any type of exercise should be carried out at least 30 minutes a day, a minimum of 5 days a week.
