Fatty liver and high blood lipids: Key points for lowering lipids in daily life

**10. What is the relationship between blood lipids and fatty liver?**

Fatty liver is caused by the accumulation of large amounts of fat in the liver, and is often accompanied by elevated blood lipids.

Ultrasound examination is currently the main method for detecting fatty liver.

The incidence of fatty liver is as high as 5% to 10%. About 35% of adults with elevated transaminase levels during physical examinations have fatty liver, and some patients may develop cirrhosis.

Therefore, the prevention and treatment of fatty liver are very important for preventing the progression of chronic liver disease and improving prognosis.

Who is prone to fatty liver? People with high cholesterol, diabetes, abdominal fat accumulation, heavy drinkers, obese individuals, and those with viral hepatitis.

What are the symptoms of fatty liver? Mild fatty liver usually has no symptoms. Moderate and severe fatty liver may present with hepatomegaly, loss of appetite, distending pain in the liver area, and elevated aminotransferase levels. A few cases may present with mild jaundice and splenomegaly.

What should patients with fatty liver do? Early treatment can stop the progression of fatty liver, and most cases of fatty liver are curable.

Treatment includes eliminating the cause, improving lifestyle, adjusting diet, and using lipid-lowering drugs.

**11. Which patients are not suitable for cholesterol-lowering treatment?**

First, patients with active hepatitis should not use cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Because these lipid-lowering drugs are metabolized in the liver, they can exacerbate liver damage.

Secondly, pregnant or breastfeeding women should not use cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Because atherosclerosis is a chronic process, discontinuing lipid-lowering drugs during pregnancy has little impact on the long-term effects of treating primary hypercholesterolemia; moreover, cholesterol and other products of its biosynthesis pathway are essential components for fetal development, including the synthesis of steroids and cell membranes.

Statins, while reducing cholesterol biosynthesis, also reduce other products in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway.

Therefore, pregnant women taking these types of lipid-lowering drugs may harm the fetus.

Whether lipid-lowering drugs and their metabolites are secreted in human breast milk is still under investigation.

Because many drugs are secreted in human milk, and because of the potential adverse reactions of lipid-lowering drugs, breastfeeding women should not take lipid-lowering drugs.

Finally, it must be emphasized that not all patients with coronary heart disease are suitable for cholesterol-lowering treatment. Elderly patients over 70 years of age, patients with chronic congestive heart failure, dementia, advanced cerebrovascular disease, or active malignant tumors should not undergo lipid-lowering treatment.

**IV. Daily Life of Patients with Hyperlipidemia**

**1. What precautions should patients with high cholesterol take when drinking water?**

For patients with hyperlipidemia, adequate daily water intake is key to weight loss and promoting fat metabolism.

The reason is that if the body does not take in enough water, the kidneys cannot function fully; the liver needs to perform its function when processing toxic substances, but if water intake is insufficient, the liver's function of metabolizing fat will be affected.

When you drink enough water, your kidneys and liver can perform their functions effectively, and body fat will be metabolized efficiently.

Generally speaking, adults should drink 2000 ml of water per day, while the elderly should drink 1500 ml, averaging 300-400 ml every 3 hours.

It should be noted that you should not drink too much water at once, so as not to put too much burden on your digestive tract and kidneys. You should drink water in a balanced way.

The best choices for drinking water are boiled water, mineral water, and purified water, while purified water and beverages offer little health benefit.

Of course, drinking chrysanthemum tea, green tea, etc. in moderation can also help with fluid circulation, remove toxins from the body in a timely manner, and has the effects of lowering blood lipids and improving health and beauty.

**2. What are the benefits of cold water baths for patients with high cholesterol?**

A cold water bath is a bath in water between 5 and 20 degrees Celsius, and the natural water temperature in autumn falls within this range.

Practice has shown that cold water baths help prevent and treat hyperlipidemia.

Cold water baths can promote metabolism, reduce fat accumulation and cholesterol deposition on blood vessel walls, and prevent arteriosclerosis.

**3. What precautions should be taken when using cold water baths to lower blood lipids?**

Cold water baths are only suitable for healthy people and patients with simple hyperlipidemia. Moreover, they should be done according to their own condition and ability, gradually increasing from summer to autumn, and without interruption.

Cold water bathing includes: cold water body washing, cold water showering, cold water immersion, and winter swimming.

Wiping your body with cold water should generally not exceed 5 minutes; for a cold shower, when the water temperature is around 15℃, the shower time should be 2 minutes; for a cold bath, the duration depends on the water temperature.

Before taking a cold water bath in autumn, make sure to warm up your body thoroughly.

After bathing, immediately dry your body with a towel, put on warm clothes, or do some light exercise to promote blood circulation throughout your body, so that the warmth spreads throughout your body, giving you a feeling of relaxation, comfort, and rejuvenation.

Never take a cold bath when hungry or after a full meal.

For patients with hyperlipidemia and other diseases, cold water baths should be avoided or used under the guidance of a doctor.

4. What are the harmful effects of skipping breakfast on patients with high cholesterol?

While skipping breakfast is generally considered taboo for everyone, it is especially important for people with hyperlipidemia.

Studies have shown that people who skip breakfast have about 33% higher cholesterol levels than those who eat breakfast, and people who eat breakfast are much less likely to develop hyperlipidemia.

Clinical studies have also confirmed that the chance of a heart attack is about twice as high within two hours of waking up in the morning compared to other times, which may be related to the fact that one has not eaten for a long time.

Scientists studying blood viscosity and blood clotting have found that people who skip breakfast have increased blood viscosity.

It can easily lead to increased blood lipids.

**V. Dietary Care for Patients with Hyperlipidemia**

**1. What are the five basic principles of dietary therapy for high cholesterol?**

(1) Low in calories.

(2) Low cholesterol.

(3) Low fat.

(4) Low sugar.

(5) High fiber content.

**2. What is the food portioning therapy in the dietary treatment of hyperlipidemia?**

Dietary separation therapy is one of the effective methods for preventing and treating hyperlipidemia.

Foreign dietary experts have proposed a new method to lower high blood lipids, which mainly requires that people avoid eating certain foods together with each meal.

For example, when eating high-protein, high-fat meat dishes, you can eat one type of vegetable, but you cannot drink beer or eat carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread and potatoes.

The main reason is that human body fat is converted from other nutrients. When people eat high-protein foods but do not consume carbohydrates, their blood lipids may be effectively controlled.