4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease

4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease takes 90 minutes per week.

Perhaps surprisingly fatty liver is not caused by a diet high in lipids but rather one in which there is a large amount of refined carbs; for example cake flour, cornmeal and sugar.

The limiting factor is how quickly the organ can turn glucose entering from the portal blood stream into lipoproteins and triglycerides which would normally then pass to the serum for storage in adipose tissue. Instead they accumulate in the liver causing a fatty fibrotic disease.

Typical grocery store foods are high in refined carbs; and oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids, themselves inflammatory.

• Linoleic acid in sunflower and soybean oil promotes inflammation

This unholy trinity of excessive refined flour, sugar and inflammatory oils is the cause of what is now known as Metabolic dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD). Treatment consisting of a diet restricted in calories and 4x4 interval training has been shown to be effective.

Instead the dietary glucose is turned into glycogen for use in the muscles.

Walking after a starchy meal gives the liver a break; glucose from the digestion of carbs is turned instead into glycogen. 4x4 interval training is for young and old alike; make it fun.

What is the 4x4 workout routine?

The 4x4 workout routine uses four bouts of exercise lasting about half an hour in total; three times per week. That is manageable for those who know they have a very serious, oft terminal illness.

More difficult is for those who understand perfectly that all is not well in the "state of Denmark" but not yet diagnosed with MASLD. They will often not accept that, without drastic changes torrid times lie ahead.

They are frequently unwilling to limit refined carbs and inflammatory fatty acids; nor to invest just an hour and half each week in this 4x4 workout routine.

Baked goods are at the heart of this controversy; made with ultra-refined flour they are often also steeped in sunflower or soybean oil. That is a recipe for fatty liver disease.

Where to start

Start with four minutes of brisk walking followed by a shorter period of gentler strolling.

So each bout lasts about seven minutes; four of them.

As your fitness improves, increase the intensity of the 4 minute workouts. We note this is for people who are unwell, not athletes in training; they would be aiming for 90% of their maximal heart rate.

This is what 4x4 interval training might look like

Again do notice we are using 4x4 interval training here for those suffering from MASLD, not those preparing for the Olympics. They have chosen this programme because they are tired of pain in the lower limbs, having to take so much medication and the threat of a liver transplant.

First interval

Walk as fast as you can, accepting that it might be quite slow initially for four minutes. Choose somewhere nearby so you do not have to travel; on grass if that is possible. It's easier on the legs. Use a cane if need be.

Then walk more slowly for three minutes to recover and get your breath back.

Three more intervals

Try to complete three more intervals as above If you are able, each lasting 7 minutes; the whole exercise will take no more than half an hour.

After the fourth interval, the amble home would be the recovery period. There are no rules, just get walking. In fact this could just as easily be swimming or cycling.

Best of course would be to do this daily but if you can only manage three days a week, don't be glum. You have started the first baby steps of recovering from a very serious disease. One that might kill you if you do not take action.

After starchy meals, especially supper

The best time to do your 4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease is after starchy meals; then your blood glucose won't soar into the ether.

And research shows that the interval after your evening meal has the greatest benefit; it helps to reduce the anxious "dawn effect" when blood glucose often rises alarmingly.

• Take a walk after supper

So you might do two intervals after breakfast, one next at lunch and the last in the evening; four in total.

The trick is not to go straight from any meal to the couch, computer or car. Nor to eat or drink anything sweet for at least an hour after the last interval.

For life

Only introduce changes into your routine that you can sustain for the rest of your life. Starting 4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease but quitting after three weeks is worse than useless.

It just adds guilt to that sense of hopelessness.

Not enough

As we all know only too well, no form of exercise achievable by those suffering with fatty liver disease will knock pounds off. There are many benefits from better blood glucose control to increased muscle tone but weight loss is not among them.

To achieve that those starting 4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease also have to begin limiting refined carbs, sugar and the inflammatory fats. Best is to choose just one and when it's been successfully banished for life, only then start on the next processed starch.

Note that we are not talking about all starches; only those that have been processed. And best is to replace them with appropriate unrefined carbs.

• Quit commercial bread, rolls and buns and start baking sourdough using 100% wholemeal, for example. It takes only five minutes each day.
• Refuse potatoes from cold storage and instead start enjoying those that are small and newly lifted. Don't bake or microwave them; it raises the GI alarmingly.
  
• Reduce sugar to six or less teaspoons per day, the amount recommended by the Heart Association; and instead find a source of honey that is natural and completely unprocessed. You may have to seek out a local small beekeeper who can assure you his product is totally unheated and not filtered of the pollen.

Only when you have successfully achieved the introduction of the first healthy starch and banished the ogre from "the Devil's Pantry" move on to the next. One step at a time, fatty liver or as it is now called MASLD can be brought entirely into submission without the use of medication.

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Obviously if you are at end-stage MASLD then you have to be far more aggressive. All the refined starches must not only go for ever but also starting right now.

Prevention remains ever better than a cure. Don't wait for "end times" before introducing 4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease together with a complete change of diet if you are prediabetic.

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In South Africa grits is the staple carb rather than wheat. Made from super refined  white maizemeal it is highly glycemic and certainly the chief cause of fatty liver.

But wholegrain yellow grits is another story completely; it lowers blood pressure, contributes to weight loss and protects the eyes from disease.

• Why do we choose yellow maizemeal?
  

Natural honey

High and holy days

You can break your fast on high and holy days.

At Thanksgiving, Shrove Tuesday and when invited out for a meal you can lower your guard and enjoy a dumpling and a pancake. But do stick to small portions; keep the "glycemic load" down.

This is something you choose to do for yourself, not the latest in-fashion diet that is bound to fail just like the last. Losing and regaining weight is far worse for fatty liver disease than not starting at all.

The pancreas

Fatty pancreas is sure to be happening silently alongside. Lipid droplets are deposited in the organ, replacing the beta-cells that synthesise insulin. By the time most diabetics are diagnosed they have already lost 50% of function.

The pancreas then is unable to respond adequately to the "incretin hormones" that direct the gland to release insulin into the blood stream; and tell the brain when it's time to stop eating. Glucose rises even further, the fasting serum sugar test and the dreaded HbA1_c together declare that unless all hands are brought on deck to restore balance, the whole ship is about to sink.

The good news is that pancreatic function can be completely restored after three months on 4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease together with a drop of just 500 calories from dietary intake; refined carbs and inflammatory omega-6 oils.

• Influence of carbohydrate consumption on pancreatic function
  

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is the inability of cells in muscles to take up glucose from the blood. First the pancreas attempts to increase the production of the hormone but is unable to do so because of fat deposits replacing the beta cells in the organ. This is the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The liver should be suppressing glucose production but this is impaired in insulin resistance; instead lipids build up in the organ leading to MASLD, inflammation and cell damage.

Diets don't work

We all know that diets just don't work; we have tried one after another becoming increasingly frustrated and angry. This is not yet another, equally doomed to fail. Rather it is a completely new way of living; almost guaranteed to restore you and your liver to health. Banishing refined carbs for ever and starting 4x4 interval training for liver disease will work.

All these principles are encapsulated in Bernie's scientifically proven weight loss program; it is not a diet.

WEight loss

Weight loss through the avoidance of all refined carbs is an essential part of dealing with fatty liver; 4x4 interval training is not enough.

• 5% loss leads to a reduction of fatty liver.
• 7% brings about less inflammation.
• 10% reduces fibrosis in the liver.
  

Rule number 1

Ketogenic diet

The ketogenic diets encapsulate some of these principles but with one important distinction. By forbidding whole grains and legumes because of their carb content they exclude the lignans that protect our bodies against aggressive invasive tumours; jumping out of the fat and into the fire, so to speak.

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Whilst the ketogenic diets may have some short term benefits, rebound is highly likely; can you give up all bread, buns and rolls for ever? Thankfully you don't need to; just learn about baking sourdough with true 100% wholegrain flour. It may mean purchasing a mill.

Eat more legumes

Despite their starch because of their low GI beans and peas are an essential part of reducing inflammation in the liver. Be assured, the research is strong, those who consume legumes regular will lose weight.

Consider making the time to grow them yourself. The vitamin D from sunshine, the exercise and the relaxation associated with gardening all contribute to wellness.

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Is obesity a disease?

Currently it is not accepted that obesity is a disease; but this may soon be overturned. Robust discussion and diverse conflicting opinions will continue.

Our standpoint is that it is a disease brought about almost entirely by unscrupulous food companies that strip the goodness from our meals; and add many toxic chemicals to replace those nutrients with artificial flavouring, stabilisers and preservatives.

But let's admit that we have been gullible too. We have swallowed their deception without thought, yet with a nagging suspicion that delicious scones, thick slices of cake and French Fries daily cannot be good for us; and we now rather fancy food that doesn't need to be laboriously chewed.

It's a disease of society, not of the human body; one that has infected our minds with pernicious ideas of what constitutes food.

Pharmaceutical companies have been quick to cash in too; but medication for weight loss doesn't work either. The war against obesity, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease will only be won with a return to the land, to home-based cooking and whole foods.

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All these unsustainable diets only mean repeated loss and gain of weight; that the whole scientific community concurs is an unmitigated disaster.

4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease is not enough; dietary change and weight loss are imperative. Eat more beans and peas; despite their starch.

Omega oils

A side benefit of this low omega 6 fatty acids diet is new research that shows that it will also curb the growth of early prostate cancer very significantly; especially if simultaneously associated with an increase in fish oil^[2].

Omega 6's like linoleic acid are essential fats; but they should not constitute more than 2% of the calories in the diet; typical current grocery store food yields over 10 percent of these compounds. That is highly inflammatory; a factor in liver disease, malignant prostate tumours and much else.

4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease

4x4 interval training for fatty liver disease together with a restricted refined carb diet greatly improves the outcome of an otherwise terminal condition.

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