IS THERE AN OPTIMAL DIET FOR THOSE WITH HEPATITIS/LIVER DISEASE?
Unfortunately, a person cannot expect to walk into the doctor’s office and request “a diet for liver disease.” Such an across-the-board diet simply does not exist. Many factors account for the unfeasibility of a standardized liver diet, including variations among the different types of liver disease (for example, alcoholic liver disease versus primary biliary cirrhosis) and the stage of the liver disease (for example, stable liver disease without much damage versus unstable decompensated cirrhosis). One’s other medical disorders even if unrelated to their liver disease, such as diabetes or heart disease, must also be factored into any diet. Each person has her own individual nutritional requirements, and these requirements may change over time.
Most people with liver disease find that eating multiple small meals throughout the day is the best approach, as it maximizes energy levels and the ability to digest and absorb food. However, if one insists on eating three meals per day try to follow the saying – “ eat breakfast like a king, lunch like prince and dinner like a pauper”.
It is important to keep in mind the difference in calorie content among different food groups. While protein and carbohydrate each supply 4 calories per gram, fat supplies 9 calories per gram. It is also important to know that 1 gram of alcohol is equivalent to 7 calories. So alcohol actually supplies more energy in the form of calories to the body than protein and carbohydrates, and just slightly less than that supplied by fat. However, while alcohol may provide a person with some degree of energy, it has absolutely no nutritional value. Therefore, alcohol has been said to provide “empty calories.”
All contents of this article are Copyright © Melissa Palmer, MD
Melissa Palmer, MD is the author of " Dr. Melissa Palmer's Guide of Hepatitis and Liver Disease". (Published 2004. Penguin Putnam).
Dr. Palmer is an internationally renowned hepatologist who has been practicing medicine since 1985. Prior to 2012, she maintained perhaps the largest medical practice devoted to liver disease in the United States. Dr. Palmer is Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University Medical Center. Dr. Palmer graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. and was trained in hepatology (as well as medical school) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Dr. Palmer is Board Certified in Gastroenterology and in Internal Medicine.
She has authored numerous scientific publications in the field of hepatology in such peer-reviewed journals as Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Seminars of Liver Disease, Transplantation and Archives of Internal Medicine.
She is frequently called upon by the media for her opinion on various topics related to liver disease. Dr. Palmer has appeared many times on television as a liver disease expert and has been quoted in such publications as TIME magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Prevention magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday. She also has appeared in numerous videos and CD-Roms aimed at educating doctors and the public about hepatitis C and other liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis. Dr. Palmer lectures to the medical and general public on liver disease-related topics on a regular basis.
Dr. Palmer has performed numerous clinical trials on various experimental medications for the treatment of hepatitis.
Dr. Palmer is currently available for lecturing, investor and hedge-fund consultations, consultations to industry, and media interviews and appearances-- including television. For such matters, she can be contacted through hepatitismedia@gmail.com.
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