We’ve all been introduced to childhood diabetes, heart conditions, and sky high cholesterol numbers. It seems that a diet consisting mainly of hydrogenated and processed fats, fried foods and super starches all comes back to haunt today’s children and adolescents with all sorts of health problems, even as childhood obesity continues to be a major concern. But despite the seriousness in the impact of these problems, their occurrence takes an inevitable backseat to what cold be the greatest problem ever encountered in the collective declining health of our children. This emerging medical issue is known as Fatty Liver Syndrome.
What is Fatty Liver Syndrome?
When doctors talk to you about NASH, which stands for Non Alcoholic Steatorrhoeic Hepatosis or Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), don’t be put off by these big terms. It is the same thing as fatty liver syndrome, which really just means that your liver is being invaded with exorbitant amounts of fat. While fatty liver or NASH is very common in overweight persons over the age of 30, the syndrome has also been said to occur frequently among children pre-pubescent years and above.
As the name itself suggests, a fatty liver contains an excessive amount of fat. Because of this, normal healthy liver tissue is partly replaced with areas of unhealthy fats. This in turn causes the liver to become slightly enlarged and heavier and gives it a yellow greasy appearance.
The liver is responsible for removing the toxins, dead cells, microorganisms, and fat from the blood stream. However, if you have fatty liver, instead of straining the blood of all harmful elements, it cannot do that anymore. This causes the blood stream to become overloaded with toxins and fat.
The Role of Lecithin in the Liver
Lecithin is a phospholipid that is found in every single living cell. It is composed mainly of three types of phospholipids: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and phosphatidylethanol (PE). As a major component of the cell membrane, lecithin acts as an emulsifier, keeping the essential fatty acids apart from other molecules within the cell. This role of lecithin is very important since fatty acids are so delicate that when exposed to oxidation, they may become rancid, causing harm to the body.
Lecithin is also present in bile where it does what it always does - keeping fatty substances. The bile is a substance essential to digestion and produced by the liver to be stored in the gallbladder. When lecithin is doing all it should in the bile, it eases digestion and helps your body absorb nutrients better.
One component of lecithin, choline is an essential nutrient, just as fatty acids are. The body must depend on the foods that we eat in order to get adequate supply of choline. The role of choline in the body may be the key to overcoming fatty liver syndrome. Scientists have found that choline is essential for helping to turn fat into energy within the liver. By taking in more choline, either as a standalone choline supplement or allow your own body to synthesize lecithin supplement to choline, you could help reverse the damage caused by fatty liver syndrome.
Posted by admin in Health
Lecithin And Weight Loss
... go through yo-yo dieting, at the same time contending with sluggish metabolism and unbridled cravings, so that hardly anything ever works. However, if you really want to lose some weight, you should be addressing the real cause of the problem instead of tackling the symptoms. If you think that congestion throughout the body and a sluggish liver contribute only to fatigue and malaise, then you need to think again. Weight gain is often due to poor liver function. With a liver that is in such poor health as to make it unable to perform its functions, there is a very likely chance that the condition will result in weight gain, especially around the abdomen, cellulite, and water retention. The Bile The liver is responsible for secreting bile. A...
Liquid Lecithin
... ions, wastes, and nutrients, we need a constant supply of choline. In addition, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine needs choline for its normal functions. Due to liquid lecithin's choline make up, the compound has been touted as a memory enhancer by improving cognitive function. Another benefit of liquid lecithin is to increase the rate at which fat is burned to produce energy for the body. Lecithin is contained in the bile, which is a kind of substance produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder necessary for digestion. As an emulsifier, the function of liquid lecithin is to separate the fatty acids in the bile and protect them from the ravages of oxidation. The compound also helps keep the liver cells healthy so they can continue doing their function of filtering...
Lecithin Weight Loss
... aids the cardiovascular functions Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver of the body. Lecithin Weight Loss Supplementation The ability of lecithin to facilitate fat burning makes it a valuable compound in the weight loss and diet community. In fact, the compound is currently marketed as a lecithin weight loss supplement, an alternative weight loss regimen for those who want a diet quick fix. Of course, lecithin can be naturally found in foods that we eat. Certainly, foods that are rich in lecithin are foods that we often include in our daily diet, such as egg yolk, soybeans, grains, wheat germ, fish, legumes, yeast, and peanuts. However, if these are not enough, lecithin weight loss supplements are also sold in capsule, powder or granular form. Lecithin weight loss supplements are highly filtered. That means they contain...
Lecithin Sources
... phosphatidylcholine, 2,200 mg of essential fatty acids like linoleic acid and 1000 mg of phosphatidylinositol, all of which contribute to just how good lecithin is. And yet as good as lecithin is made out to be, a lot of people do not consume adequate amounts of the compound. While a deficiency in lecithin does not seem to have any adverse effects on people, a deficiency in choline, a component of lecithin, however, can lead to serious illnesses such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. The reason for the reduced consumption of lecithin may have something to do with the lecithin sources themselves. Before World War II, people were in the habit of eating large amounts of organ meats, red Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver meats, whole eggs, whole milk with cream, dairy cream, and liver, all of which are excellent lecithin sources. But what makes these foods such excellent lecithin sources also make people turn away...
Benefits of Soy Lecithin
... fatty acids in the bile, thereby helping the liver burn fat better. It is also present in the myelin sheath that covers every single nerve cell found in the body, keeping them healthy and strong. Because of this, many scientists believe that improving brain power may be one of the benefits of soy lecithin. Choline Choline is the synthesized form of phosphatidylcholine. It is an Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver essential nutrient, recognized by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1998. This means that our body cannot manufacture its own supply of the compound and must therefore depend on food to keeps its supply level adequate. Many studies have been conducted on the benefits of soy lecithin, particularly on phosphatidylcholine, which when synthesized by the body turns into choline. It is said that some of the benefits of soy lecithin may include: positively affecting brain development, improving memory throughout life, cardiovascular health, liver function, and reproductive...
Soy Bean Lecithin
... bean lecithin, a shift also occurred. Lecithin that is derived from plant, such as soy bean lecithin, is regarded as safer to use than those extracted from animals since animal lecithin is often excreted by the kidney, which contains toxins and other harmful substances. As such, soy bean lecithin came to replace egg lecithin as being the major source of this compound. Soy bean lecithin is composed of Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver three types of phospholipids: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylehtanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylinositol (PI). The most important is phosphatidylcholine which, when synthesized, becomes choline, an essential nutrient that is desperately needed by the body. Phosphatidylcholine contributes to the structural integrity of the cell. Being a major component of the cell membrane, it also helps facilitate the movement of fluids in and out of the cell as well as eases cell signaling or communication. It is particularly important in such vital organs as the liver and the brain. Choline helps synthesize acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter responsible for much of our cognitive functions. Because of this unique...
Lecithin is Powerful
... only for these reasons. Lecithin is powerful because it is one of the important nutrients that make up the cell membrane found in the cells of every living organism on earth and plays a vital role in normal cell functions. Lecithin - Its Composition and Functions In biochemistry, lecithin is often used synonymously with another term, phosphatidylcholine, which is actually one of the three main types of phospholipids found in the phosphatide fraction isolated from either egg yolk or soy beans. On the other hand, the lecithin used by many food manufacturers is a mixture of these phospholipids in oil, 20% to 90% of which is phosphatidylcholine. One of the many reasons why lecithin is powerful is because of the presence of phosphatidylcholine. Lecithin that contains this substance is produced from vegetable, animal and microbial sources, but mainly from vegetable sources, the most important sources of which are soybean, sunflower, and grape seed. Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver In 1998, the US Food and Drug Administration...
Health Lecithin
... and water soluble compounds, more commonly known as phospholipids, sold commercially as powerful emulsifiers. On the other hand, scientists often use the term as a synonym for phosphatidylcholine (PC), a phospholipid component found in every living cell of the body, whether that body is plant or Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver animal in origin. Scientists say that the health lecithin functions encompass everything that pertains to life, e.g., breathing, metabolism, energy production and transport, and nerve function. Many studies have shown the health lecithin benefits include the following: * Improve memory * Normalize reproductive health * Lower risks of cancer * Increase physical performance * And enhance liver and heart health. However, these health lecithin benefits are but the tip of the iceberg. As more and more researchers are focusing much of their time and energy on investigating the compound, more and more...
Lecithin Supplements
... potential deficiency. Lecithin supplements are one of the few emulsifiers approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as GRAS or Generally Recommended as Safe for consumer use. There are no Recommonded Dietary Allowances for lecithin supplements; however some scientists do recommend an Adequate Intake for choline. For men, 550 mg is often recommended as adequate for daily use while for women, 425 mg is needed. Both choline and lecithin supplements are available in the market. However, if you want the most effective way to elevate your choline levels, the intake of lecithin supplements is often recommended. Anyway, your body will just synthesize the phosphatidyl choline into choline for use. Another reason that choline supplementation is sometimes discouraged is that Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver taking large amounts of choline supplements has been known to produce a fish-like smell in the user. Taking lecithin supplements with meals is the best way for your body to...
Structure of Lecithin
... and 65-70% phosphatides. Oil can Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver then also be removed completely with the addition of acetone. In the structure of lecithin derived from soy, the phosphatides consist of glycerides, which are the basic components of soy oil. However, instead of one fatty acid radical, this has been replaced with phosphoric acid. Now, this is different in the case of pure or chemical lecithin or phosphatidylcholine, where the phosphoric acid is further esterified with choline. But commercially, the structure of lecithin is mostly fatty acids, with roughly the same proportion as that of soy oil, which is 50-57% linoleic acid and 5% linolenic. There are different types of lecithin derived from soy: unrefined or natural (including bleach varieties), refined, and chemically modified. All of these have different chemical structures and compositions. For instance, unrefined lecithin...
Soy Lecithin Allergens
... showed that choline may play a significant role in the synthesis of an important neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. This led others to believe that lecithin may help improve the cognitive functions of the brain, even going so far as to help enhance our memories. But while there are quite a number of studies that seem to show evidence of the benefits of lecithin, there is little in the way to show a real connection between improved conditions and the taking of lecithin supplements. Instead, what doctors have observed is a concerning number of reports of soy lecithin allergens. Soy Allergy In line with the increasing use of soy products today, soy lecithin allergens also arose and allergic reactions arose. It was in the early 1980s that Stuart Berger, MD, labeled soy lecithin allergens as one of the top seven allergens - sometimes known as the "sinister...
What is Lecithin
... two meanings that are somewhat related but are not used in the same sense. In biochemistry and other related science, lecithin is a synonym for phosphatidyl choline. It is the main lipid component in biological membranes, like our cell membranes or cell walls of plants. On the other hand, commercial lecithin is actually a natural mixture Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver of neutral and polar lipids, including glycolipids, triglycerides, sterols, and small quantities of fatty acids, carbohydrates, and sphingolipids. The polar lipid Phosphatidyl choline is present in commercial lecithin in concentrations of 20 to 90%. Where does lecithin come from? After asking what is lecithin, you want to know where it is found. Lecithin that contains phosphatidyl choline is produced mainly from vegetable sources, although it may also...
Lecithin Supplement
... in foods that we eat, including soybeans, egg yolk, wheat germ, grape seed, and virtually every plant and animal. The compound acts as an emulsifier, maintaining the fats in bile and easing digestion to help the body better absorb valuable nutrients. However, when scientists speak of lecithin, they generally mean the compound element phosphatidyl choline or PC. Phosphatidyl choline is s vital component in the formation of cell membranes and cell walls, which play a role in facilitating the movement of fluids in and out of the cell. Professor and chair of the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill Steven Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D. says that lecithin also helps to maintain the structural integrity of cells. He explains, "Without lecithin, nothing would survive, because you wouldn't be able to separate the various compartments within cells, nor would you be able to...
Lecithin Granules
... choline, a substance that scientists have discovered as an essential nutrient, which means that we can't live without it. To prove this, several studies have shown that within 30 days of a choline deficient diet, indications of liver problems will manifest. Phosphatidyl Inositol (PI) Unlike phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl inositol, or PI for brevity, is not purely a phospholipid. The substance contains an alcohol, inositol, with Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver a ring structure, which acts as a substrate for a large number of enzymes involved in cell signaling - the process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus to another, such as when your stomach tells you brain that you are already full, or when the epidermis of your hand signals your brain that the pan is hot when you try to touch it. The biochemical process of cell signaling is essential because without it, you would have no idea how to react to danger. You wouldn't know for instance that there is a fire somewhere when you smell...
Lecithin Granules Vegetarian
... is that lecithin is fairly Is Lecithin Good for Fatty Liver common and is found in most foods that we eat whether it is plant in origin or animal. One good source of lecithin is soy food, consumption of which has increased since its beneficial effects were discovered decades ago. Supplementation is also another alternative path that vegetarians can take. A lot of drug companies are starting to market lecithin granules vegetarian to help people get their adequate supply of this nutrient even without eating a lot of lecithin-rich foods. Most experts say that out of all supplemental forms of lecithin, lecithin granules vegetarian is the best. Unlike other forms, lecithin granules vegetarian is versatile and can be consumed directly or be added as an ingredient to food recipes. Lecithin granules vegetarian are 97% pure phospholipids, which are essential to the structural integrity of the cell membrane. Lecithin granules vegetarian are often referred to as oil-free lecithin because all the natural oils...