A healthy liver promotes a healthy life

Jörg Zehetner, MD
Professor (USC) MMM, FACS, FEBS (hon.)

Fatty liver, non-alcoholic fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, hepatitis as infection of the liver and many other liver diseases are common. It is estimated that the proportion of people diagnosed with fatty liver in developed European countries is around 20 percent, with a certain number of unreported cases, as mild and symptom-free courses of the disease are hardly recognised.

A distinction is made between three degrees of severity of fatty liver, initially regardless of whether it is alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

  • Mild fatty liver – In this case, less than one third of the liver cells are affected by excessive fatty degeneration.
  • Moderate fatty liver – At this stage, a proportion of less than two-thirds but more than one-third of the liver is already excessively fatty.
  • Severe fatty liver – In this degree of severity of fatty liver disease, more than two thirds of the liver cells are already excessively fatty.

Fatty liver cells result from the storage of fat in the liver cells, which ultimately significantly impairs the function of the liver as an important organ. Consequential diseases or concomitant diseases such as diabetes are not excluded, but are often a complication caused by the disturbed fat metabolism in the liver.

The severity of fatty liver disease can be determined by examining a tissue sample from the liver. In the process, a tiny part is taken from the organ and subjected to a fine-tissue examination. Examinations of the cholesterol level or the blood lipid values also provide valuable information.

A healthy liver promotes a healthy life
A healthy liver promotes a healthy life

Alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver?

Many liver diseases are diagnosed in close association with the excessive consumption of alcohol. Anyone who is more familiar with the chemical composition of alcohol knows that it is a modified form of sugar, i.e. carbohydrates. An excess of carbohydrates is deposited in the body as fat and finds its place especially in the liver. Accordingly, many chronic alcoholics are affected by liver diseases up to severe forms.

But also, and this should be a cause for concern, a large proportion of non-alcohol-related liver diseases are spreading in society. Such manifestations of fatty liver are mainly due to wrong eating and living habits, which are mainly represented by excessively fatty and sugary diets. What the body cannot process, it not only deposits in the fat depots of the lower skin layers, but also in the liver, which then leads to fatty liver.

What to do for fatty liver?

Once an alcoholic fatty liver has been diagnosed, the only thing that helps is a strict
and consistent renunciation of alcohol. Only the radical renunciation of alcoholic beverages can still offer a spark of hope that the consequences of alcohol abuse on liver health can still be mitigated.

In the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver, the chances of recovery are relatively good, depending on the severity. What is important is a consistent change in diet combined with more active exercise. This change can be supported by so-called liver fasting, which we will look at in more detail in a separate section. In principle, it is always important to prevent scarring of the liver tissue, which is referred to in medical terminology as cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis of the liver is beyond repair and represents a dangerous structural change in the liver tissue that cannot be reversed.

Once a fatty liver has been diagnosed, depending on its severity, it is important to make actual changes to halt and, if possible, reverse the process of fatty liver. Half-hearted measures help relatively little. Also because a relapse into old lifestyle and dietary habits will always lead to progressive damage to the liver.

Treatment of fatty liver with medication or surgery is not possible. In the case of a fatty liver, the only thing that can help is to tackle the causes, which are to be found either in excessive alcohol consumption, in the wrong diet that is too rich in fat, or in a combination of both. Some rare forms of fatty liver are due to medication or other episodes, but are negligible in this paper.

Who is affected?

If you follow the statistics, about 20 percent of our society is affected by non-alcoholic fatty liver. The age of patients ranges from 40 to 60 years, with women being affected by fatty liver slightly more often than men.

It is noteworthy that many patients with fatty liver are significantly overweight (obesity) or already suffer from diabetes in various stages. Elevated blood lipid levels are as common as the occurrence of metabolic syndrome.

Even if the actual causes of a fatty liver have not yet been fully researched, it can be assumed that there is basically a disproportion between energy intake and energy consumption. This means that in the long term or permanently, significantly more calories are supplied to the body than are actually consumed.

Even though fatty liver is often associated with alcohol abuse in the general perception, the proportion of non-alcoholic fatty liver is much higher than that of alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Liver fasting according to Dr. Worm – a good therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver

A liver fast according to Dr. Worm is an effective means of individually and successfully combating fatty liver. Even without a specific medical diagnosis, but especially after a diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm offers excellent possibilities for a targeted and healthy defatting of the liver without overtaxing the organism. However, it must also be said that any form of dietary nutrition, including liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, does not work without renunciation and one’s own will.

This is how liver fasting according to Dr. Worm works

Dr. Nicolai Worm is one of the best-known nutritionists of our time. Based on years of experience in nutritional counselling and supported by current scientific findings, Dr. Worm has developed liver fasting with Hepafast together with the nutritional physician Dr. Hardy Walle, MD. Such a diet is by no means new territory, but is based on the experience of many decades of research, science and practice.

The special thing about the Hepafast cure is that it specifically addresses the requirements and physical circumstances related to a fatty liver. This means that with the targeted Hepafast liver fasting cure, which is limited to a few weeks, the fat levels of the liver can be specifically influenced.

If the liver fasting cure according to Dr. Worm is carried out correctly, the fat metabolism is naturally influenced, which in the majority of cases also leads to a general weight loss. Both the blood fat values and the liver fat values recover noticeably, the success of liver fasting can be observed and experienced by the person doing it. Unlike many other diets, the feared yo-yo effect is not to be expected, as the Dr. Worm liver fast is not a starvation diet, but is accompanied by valuable ingredients in an easy-to-prepare drink.

Of course, liver fasting with Hepafast makes no sense if the diet and lifestyle in general are not changed at the same time. However, as Hepafast works naturally and is filling, continued excessive food intake is neither felt nor factually necessary. The affected persons therefore eat more sensibly and healthily, do not have to starve themselves and simply supplement their diet with Hepafast. This leads to a significant decrease in fat levels and thus to improved health, which is also noticeable in performance after just a few weeks.

When is liver fasting according to Dr. Worm useful?

In principle, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm always makes sense at the latest when symptoms of a fatty liver are noticed. However, a fatty liver in the first degree of severity is not associated with any individual complaints and is therefore usually not even noticed.

It is good that liver fasting according to Dr. Worm can also be carried out preventively, without deficiency symptoms or too abrupt changes in lifestyle. Step by step, users can familiarise themselves with the mode of action of liver fasting and are then guided themselves to make their lifestyle and eating habits more sensible.

Liver fasting according to Dr. Worm is particularly recommended after the cold season. In winter, most people exercise a little less anyway, rich and fatty food is often part of everyday life in winter, and around Christmas and spring is the best time to activate the body again. Especially since Lent is in full swing then anyway. In addition, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm with Hepafast can be used practically any time of the year.

This is how liver fasting with Hepafast works

In many years of nutritional research, Dr. Nicolai Worm and Dr. Hardy Walle, MD, have put together a formula that has a measurably positive effect on liver fat values. The special composition and easy handling of the Hepafast liver cure helps to boost fat burning and successfully reduce the storage of fat in the liver cells. Finally, the ingredients of the Hepafast cure also have an effect on the fats already stored in the liver and can effectively break them down.

A prerequisite for a successful liver fasting cure with Hepafast remains a sensible change in lifestyle and dietary habits. Hepafast is not a miracle cure, but a nutritionally compounded support for defatting the liver and for overall better eating habits. Accordingly, Hepafast is not a food supplement, but replaces part of the diet with liver-active components when used as intended.

In concrete terms, this may mean that lunch or another meal is replaced by a Hepafast Shake prepared as intended. There is no need to fear a feeling of hunger, as Hepafast is satiating and at the same time can break down fat molecules in the body. The fear of an unbalanced diet or malnutrition is also not justified, as other meals can also be taken when using Hepafast, which then contain the substances required by the body. A Bodymed Hepafast liver cure is not a diet that focuses primarily on renunciation, but rather a targeted influence on fat burning in the body. Ideally, Hepafast not only helps burn fat cells, but can also promote weight loss. In addition, the effects of liver fasting with Hepafast boost the body’s own forces and energies, which can generally lead to an improved sense of well-being and higher performance. It is important to know that in liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, the focus is not on radical or large-scale weight loss, but on naturally flawless liver function.

Experience reports with Bodymed Hepafast Liver Fasting according to Dr. Worm

Years after the first introduction of liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, there are thousands of enthusiastic and successful users who have not only been able to reduce the degree of liver fatty degeneration, but also to take preventive action against possible liver fatty degeneration. And that with relatively little effort and sacrifice, but a liver-healthy dietary pattern that is excellently supported by Hepafast.

In the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics, we also support and recommend liver fasting out of the knowledge that overweight people in particular often suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver, even if they do not always feel it immediately. Healthy liver function plays a significant role in well-being. Conversely, a balanced, varied and healthy diet always promotes liver health. This can be supported very well with Hepafast liver fasting according to Dr. Worm.

Here are some feedbacks from people who regularly do the liver fasting according to Dr. Worm.

“As a player and as a coach, I have been paying a lot of attention to my diet for years.
I tried out many different ideas and projects to be able to talk to my players about performance optimisation.

3 years ago I consciously detoxified my liver for the first time on recommendation.
I was curious to see what the body would do to me.
14 days of iron discipline. Protein shake, vegetables, counting calories was the routine that accompanied me every day.

The result: 5 kilos lost, vital, motivated, dreams, fit in spirit, conscious handling of nutrition and real enjoyment.
Not once did I feel hungry. I was allowed to get to know many interesting, creative menus.
In short, “it was worth it.”

I can highly recommend liver fasting with a clear conscience.
Bottom line: do something good for yourself while you wait for happiness.”

Martin Andermatt, football player and coaching legend


“Thanks to liver fasting, I experienced unique things at the beginning of each of the last years.

Whether on a snowshoe tour through the Ottmar Hitzfeld GsponArena or in the home office, whether at the CSI event in Basel or the Lauberhorn Races in Wengen, 14 days changed
my consciousness with liver fasting. For 14 days, the perfect-tasting Bodymed shake was my faithful companion and made every single day a pleasure.

I was able to experience positive things: Better well-being, deeper sleep, reduced fatigue, healthy eating, weight loss. And liver fasting brings even more
welcoming side effect – it saves valuable time, is easy on the wallet and helps you learn new cooking habits.

“Liver fasting means 5 star health for me.”

And who knows, with a little luck, the intense dreams will come true thanks to liver fasting … “

Fabian Furrer


“I treat myself to a liver fasting course of Hepafast once or twice a year. With a BMI of 24, I do this not to regulate my weight, but because it means wellness for my body. I feel much fresher after the cure, which is also confirmed by my blood values (cholesterol and liver values).
The most important thing for me, however, is that I don’t have to go hungry at any time with the Hepafast cure! The shakes taste good and give a good feeling of satiety. The recommended meals are easy to prepare and bring a lot of variety into the diet. And last but not least: I’m on the road a lot, but I can easily take the shakes and vegetable snacks with me and prepare and enjoy them “on the go”.”

Markus Fuhrer


“I am very satisfied with the liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, Hepafast, which was prescribed to me by Dr. Jörg Zehetner, MD. My laboratory values, especially cholesterol, are now all at a good level and I have lost 15 kg in one year because my eating habits have changed after the fast. I will repeat the cure every spring to stay in shape.”

Erika Fuhrer


Now, the series of experiences with Hepafast and a liver fast according to Dr. Worm could be extended almost indefinitely. However, we are of the opinion that only one’s own trial and error with one’s own personal experiences in liver fasting is really useful and meaningful.

Accordingly, we at Swiss1Chirurgie recommend that you make your own experiences with liver fasting according to Dr. Worm. “Because there is nothing good unless you do it!”

You will receive appropriate professional and medical advice on liver fasting according to Dr. Worm with Hepafast gladly and in detail in every Swiss1Chirurgie clinic and also in the other affiliated clinics within Helvetia Holding AG.

Expert advice on liver fasting:

Hardy Walle, MD, at the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium

The focus of the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium at the Talent Campus Bodensee in Kreuzlingen on 22 October 2021 was the topic of liver health. All speakers agreed that fatty liver is a major cause of many diseases of civilisation in modern society. What could be more natural than to invite the co-founder of liver fasting with HEPAFAST® to the event? In his impressive and scientifically supported lecture, the nutritional physician and internist Dr. med. Hardy Walle not only established the connection between non-alcoholic fatty liver and diabetes, but at the same time proved the previously unattained effectiveness of the BODYMED HEPAFAST® concept for liver fasting. In the detailed report you will learn a lot about the topic and receive further information about liver fasting with HEPAFAST®.


Lecture:


Interview:


Liver Fasting with HEPAFAST® – The Effective Way to Liver Health

A healthy liver has extensive effects on a person’s state of health and has a lasting impact on many functions, especially metabolism. Hardy Walle, MD, was a very special guest at the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium at the Talent Campus Bodensee in Kreuzlingen.

Hardy Walle, MD, together with Prof. Nicolai Worm, is known as the founder of liver fasting with HEPAFAST®. The system, specially developed by both nutritional physicians, has been proven to have a positive effect on liver health and offers excellent opportunities for keeping the liver healthy. Even after severe liver diseases, but also used preventively, liver fasting according to Dr. Walle brings about the full functionality of the liver and thus contributes decisively to a healthy lifestyle. In his lecture, the internist and nutritionist and founder of BODYMED AG will present liver fasting with all its effects on liver detoxification and interactions on a healthy life.

Why liver fasting and what is special about it?

The core of the considerations here are the differences of liver fasting compared to other diet programmes. The starting point is provided by data on the development of overweight and the spread of obesity in Germany. It is clear that obesity with a BMI over 25 has spread significantly in the last 20 years or so. This applies especially to obesity with a BMI of 30 and above. In Germany, it is currently assumed that more than half of the total population is overweight. This leads to the logical conclusion that being overweight is now considered the normal thing to be. At the same time, almost a quarter of the population with a BMI of over 30 can be classified as obese. When we talk about obesity, we clearly mean obesity. This also makes it clear that in the case of overweight we are essentially looking at the ratio of fat to total weight. Last but not least, it is also about body fat distribution, i.e. where the fat is located on the body.

It is also interesting to note in the assessment of obesity that with the increase in overweight people, the proportion of people with type 2 diabetes is also increasing at more or less the same rate. It is interesting to note that diabetes mellitus type 2 has nothing to do with people’s age, as was once assumed. People of any age can be affected by type 2 diabetes, with obesity playing a particularly decisive role. Also among young people. So there is a clear correlation between obesity and secondary diseases.

It is all the more astonishing that light overweight is repeatedly communicated as not being so bad and that there are specialist journalists who believe that people “with light to medium overweight live the longest and get the fewest diseases …”. What is often meant is that the connection between BMI and mortality is not so significant.

Accordingly, there is a study in which, for once, not the BMI but the body shape, here specifically the waist circumference, was taken as a yardstick for the assessment among high-risk patients. Surprisingly, in the test group of around 15,000 volunteers, the group that turned out to be more mortal when measured within five years was the one that only had a BMI of 22. However, a closer look revealed that this group showed exactly the same waist circumference as the group of obese volunteers with a BMI 30. The waist circumference was 101 centimetres in each case. However, while the BMI 22 volunteer only had a belly, the BMI 30 volunteer also had a lot of fat distributed over his body.

The volunteers with the highest mortality were quite thin except in the abdominal area and had hardly any muscles. This also explains the relatively low weight despite a 101 abdominal girth. If we know that muscles also have a protective factor, then the increased mortality in this comparison group can also be explained by the lack of a protective function of the muscles. If one follows this thought, then it becomes clear that the ratio of muscle mass to fat mass is of great importance.

Conversely, this also means that BMI alone does not indicate how muscle and fat are distributed. So looking at BMI alone distorts reality, although it can provide initial signals. So it is not the BMI alone that is decisive. It definitely depends on the abdominal girth. Nevertheless, most people may know approximately their weight, but hardly anyone can quantify their abdominal circumference relatively clearly. An increased abdominal girth (women over 88 cm, men over 102 cm) is a clear risk factor for heart attacks, for example. Here, the risk increases by a factor of 4.5.

While there are tablets against high blood pressure, you can only influence your abdominal girth with your own activity. And this is exactly where liver fasting comes in. It is not one-sidedly about weight reduction, but quite clearly about belly reduction. In conclusion, this means getting rid of belly fat. But not only the fat around the organs, but especially the fat in the organs. This refers to the liver, pancreas, kidneys and, more broadly, the heart and bone structure.

Belly fat is the dangerous fat

It must be clear that the liver, for example, is not made to store fat. For that, there is rather the subcutaneous fat tissue. Belly fat has clear potential dangers. These show up as risk factors for

  • Diabetes type 2
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Potency disorders
  • Circulatory disorders
  • Dementia

All these can be consequences of too much belly fat. In principle, this is also where bariatric surgery comes in, which can certainly also ensure rapid defatting of the liver with obesity surgery.

A renowned German researcher puts the basic statement in a nutshell: “Without a fatty liver, there is no diabetes”. (Professor Norbert Stefan, Tübingen)

In most cases, it is the fatty liver that is the trigger and cause of many secondary diseases. Knowing this is important, because only then can cause, symptom, effect be clearly determined, which ultimately has clear implications for the right therapy.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) can be considered the cause of many manifestations of pathological processes. For example, for infections caused by free radicals, for gout caused by increased uric acid, increased blood sugar levels, lipid metabolism disorders, high blood pressure or for thrombosis and finally the metabolic syndrome. Liver cancer is not negligible here and is increasing explosively, especially in the USA with the large proportion of obese people.

Generally speaking, 30 to 40 percent of the total population in Germany is affected by a fatty liver. In the overweight group, this proportion is already 70 percent. If we take only type 2 diabetics, around 90 percent of those affected are “equipped” with a fatty liver. From this, the connections between fatty liver, obesity and diabetes become even clearer. This makes non-alcoholic fatty liver one of the most common liver diseases. But even 15 percent of outwardly slim people are affected by a fatty liver.

How can non-alcoholic fatty liver be diagnosed?

Basically, a non-alcoholic fatty liver is a fatty liver that is not caused by alcohol or other causes. In industrialised nations, it is considered the most frequently diagnosed liver disease. Just as no typical complaints can be detected, pure laboratory values alone hardly provide a meaningful basis.

We speak of a non-alcoholic fatty liver when more than 5.5 to 6 percent of the liver cells are fatty. This portion cannot be detected on ultrasound alone. Here, something can only be seen from a fatty degeneration of about 20 percent. The most accurate diagnosis can be made with a liver biopsy, but this is unlikely to be the first step in the diagnosis.

One value has become established in Europe. We are talking about the Fatty Liver Index (FLI). This results in a validated algorithmic numerical value that is also well suited for progress monitoring. With the FLI, a fatty liver can be diagnosed quite well and reliably.

Statistics show that mortality is significantly increased in fatty liver patients. Fatty liver is therefore not a cosmetic problem or characterised solely by increased blood fat levels etc., it is a real high-risk factor in terms of life expectancy and mortality.

Main causes for the development of a fatty liver

In the past, the causes of fatty liver were simply summarised by saying that people eat too much fat. The real cause, however, is an excess of ingested carbohydrates. Another cause may be the intake of a lot of fructose, i.e. fruit sugar. The main fatsifier of the liver is even found here.

Carbohydrates are broken down into sugar in the body. At the same time, the pancreas produces insulin. However, insulin has two effects: On the one hand, insulin ensures that the sugar reaches the muscles, and on the other hand, some of the sugar reaches the liver to regulate the blood sugar level there. If the liver releases too much sugar, insulin slows down this release. In addition, insulin ensures that excess sugar is stored in fat tissue.

Under certain conditions, organs begin to no longer respond adequately to insulin. A kind of insulin resistance develops. Then the liver is also no longer properly regulated by insulin. In the prediabetic course, the blood glucose level then rises even in fasting volunteers. Such a process develops slowly, so that in individual cases diabetes only develops after ten to twelve years. This process can even take up to 20 years. During this time, the liver is less and less regulated by insulin and becomes increasingly fatty. This process is accelerated when the subcutaneous fat tissue cannot form any more fat cells because it is literally flooded with fat. More and more fat and sugar move in the blood. Out of a natural reaction, the organism then builds up additional fat stores in the liver.

In the long term, however, it is not only the liver that becomes fatty, but also the pancreas, the kidneys, the muscles, the heart and even the hypothalamus in the brain.

The basics of liver fasting

The basic idea behind liver fasting is to simply go backwards from the rather unhealthy path taken so far. The most important step is the defatting of the liver. This usually requires a strict diet.

This means:

  • less than 1’000 kcal per day
  • few carbohydrates
  • Absorption of high quality protein
  • Only “good” fats if possible
  • special liver-active agents and dietary fibres

All this is combined in HEPAFAST® in a well-tolerated and easy-to-use formula. The programme is easy to implement in everyday life. It is easy to digest, fills you up and meets all the requirements of a good liver-healthy diet.

HEPAFAST® is taken three times a day, prepared with a milk product. In addition, twice daily vegetable preparations with a total of maximum 200 kcal per day. This means one HEPAFAST® preparation for breakfast, one HEPAFAST® and one vegetable preparation for lunch and one HEPAFAST® and one vegetable preparation for dinner. No more, but also no less.

Due to this suitability for everyday use, there are hardly any dropouts in the HEPAFAST® liver detoxification programme, which significantly increases the success rate.

The reset for the metabolism causes:

  • Normalisation of the function of the pancreas and the insulin sensitivity of the liver
  • Promotion of insulin secretion
  • Normalisation of glucagon regulation
  • reduces the uncontrolled release of glucose from the liver into the blood
  • improves metabolism and facilitates weight loss

For whom is liver fasting useful?

In principle, liver fasting with HEPAFAST® is useful for all patients with the following constellation:

  • Fatty liver (NAFDL, NASH)
  • metabolic syndrome
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Overweight and obesity
  • Lipometabolic disorders
  • High blood pressure
  • preventive as a “metabolic cure” for the prevention of diseases
  • prior to bariatric surgery

It makes no sense to wait until you have a BMI of 30 or an abdominal circumference of well over 100 centimetres. You can always start a liver fast with HEPAFAST® even without such symptoms.

Further information

You can watch the entire live video stream with Hardy Walle, MD, with additional research results, statistics and a concrete case study here.

In addition, you will also find further contributions from Helvetius Holding AG’s specialist conferences here.