Around 4.5 million adults in the United States have liver disease. The term refers to conditions that develop as a result of liver damage.
There are more than 100 types of liver disease, with some of the most common including metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), alcohol-associated liver disease, and viral hepatitis.
Researchers have identified numerous factors that can increase the risk of different types of liver disease, including moderate to heavy alcohol use, obesity, and high cholesterol.
Recent studies have explored other factors that may reduce the risk of liver disease or help support liver health. Read on to learn more about some of the new research MNThas covered.
Researchers of a study published in July in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology examined the possible benefits of daily coffee consumption on liver health.
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They tracked data of more than 355,000 adults from the U.K. Biobank for a median of 13 years. At the start of the study, participants did not have liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.
At the end of the study, those who drank 5 or more cups of coffee per day had a 32% lower risk of cirrhosis and an almost 50% lower risk of liver cancer, compared with individuals who did not drink coffee.
Study author Hyunseok Kim, MD, MPH, PhD, physician-scientist and transplant hepatologist in the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California, spoke with MNT about these findings.
“These findings reinforce the growing body of evidence that coffee consumption is associated with substantially better long-term liver health,” Kim said in a previous interview.
“Importantly, we observed a dose-response relationship, with greater coffee intake associated with progressively lower risks of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver-related mortality.”
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Regularly eating tomatoes could help reduce hepatic steatosis in people with MASLD.
This is according to research published in July in Nutrients.
The study involved 79 adults with MASLD. The control group followed a tomato-free diet, while the other group consumed 200 grams (g) of raw tomatoes and 50 g of tomato sauce daily for 6 weeks.
Both groups experienced a reduction in hepatic steatosis, but those following the tomato diet saw the greatest reduction.
Randa Abdelmasih, MD, DipABOM, endocrinologist and obesity specialist, from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), told Medical News Today in a previous interview:
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“The study showed improvement in liver fat but no significant improvements in liver stiffness, fibrosis scores, liver enzymes, insulin resistance, inflammatory markers, lipid profile, or body composition.”
Abdelmasih, who was not involved in the study, added, “Therefore, while the imaging findings are interesting, we cannot conclude that tomato consumption meaningfully alters disease progression or improves clinically relevant outcomes.”
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, smaller than 5 millimeters (mm). They are present in lots of common types of packaging.
A mouse study published in June in Science Advances found that polyethylene, a major source of microplastics, could increase the risk of liver damage or worsen existing liver conditions.
The researchers investigated the possible effects of polyethylene in mice receiving either a control diet or a diet designed to induce metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a severe type of liver disease.
Polyethylene exposure led to liver problems in both groups. It also exacerbated liver injury in those following the MASH diet.
Opel Baker, MBChB, general practitioner at the Mayfield Clinic, who was not involved in the study, spoke with MNT in a previous interview.
“The findings suggest that polyethylene microplastics may affect liver metabolism and potentially contribute to fatty liver changes in mice, but we cannot assume the same effect occurs in humans,” said Baker.
“More human research is needed before we can say that microplastics are a cause of fatty liver disease,” Baker added.
