Sharlene is a 54 year old lady who recently consulted with me for help with weight loss. Her own doctor diagnosed a fatty liver many years ago. Sharlene is also a pre diabetic. All of her older family members are type 2 diabetics. There is a very strong predisposition to the condition in her family. Interestingly Sharlene also has an autoimmune liver disease called primary biliary cirrhosis.

Fortunately the autoimmune liver condition is mild and Sharlene isn’t currently on medication for it. Sharlene’s doctor told her that losing weight should improve her liver. This is true because excess fat around the torso raises inflammation in the body because fat cells manufacture inflammatory chemicals. Additionally, the pre diabetes had created non alcoholic fatty liver disease. There was a double burden being placed on Sharlene’s liver.

Fatigue, abdominal bloating and gas were the main symptoms Sharlene experienced. She was carrying approximately 30 excess pounds which were mostly located over her torso. Several of Sharlene’s aunts had suffered heart attacks in their early 60's, so Sharlene was worried about her future health.

Sharlene’s family is from India and she eats mostly traditional Indian meals. Lunch and dinner usually consist of rice, lentils and legumes. Sharlene does eat meat but it’s not a major part of her diet. Her breakfast consists of porridge with almond milk. Sharlene gets quite hungry throughout the day and snacks on fresh Medjool dates, fruit yoghurt and nuts.

My recommendations for my patient:

Sharlene’s most recent blood test showed elevated liver enzymes. This means her liver cells are injured and inflamed and leaking enzymes into the bloodstream. I gave her my liver tonic Livatone Plus to help protect her liver cells and help damaged liver cells to regenerate. Liver inflammation typically produces fatigue, thus the liver tonic should lift her energy as well.

Primary biliary cirrhosis is an autoimmune disease. That means Sharlene’s own immune system was attacking her liver. Certain foods can irritate the immune system of people with this condition, leading to auto-antibody production. These include gluten, dairy products, legumes and nightshade vegetables. I asked Sharlene to follow the eating plan in the book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation. It was important to reduce her carbohydrate intake in order to reverse the pre diabetes and fatty liver. I asked her to increase the portions of meat, seafood, poultry and eggs, as well as vegetables, while eliminating rice and legumes.

Serrapeptase is a natural enzyme that fights inflammation in the body. It works like Pac Man, eating up swelling and debris in places it shouldn’t be. It is excellent at helping to relieve autoimmune inflammation and prevent scarring.

As with all my patients, I checked Sharlene’s blood level of vitamin D. It was low. Not surprising, since she has dark skin and spends most of her time indoors. Vitamin D and selenium both help to reduce inflammation and reduce auto-antibody production in autoimmune disease, therefore I asked Sharlene to take supplements.

I plan to see Sharlene again in 5 weeks to check on her response and determine our next step.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.