United States: Advanced liver cirrhosis can lead to dangerously high blood ammonia levels. However, a new study indicates that skipping meals could mitigate this effect.
Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj, the study lead author and a gastroenterologist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said, “It was exciting to see that even small changes in your diet, like having one meal without meat once in a while, could benefit your liver by lowering harmful ammonia levels in patients with cirrhosis,” as US News reported.
What did the researchers discover?
The team in the research presented the reason that that microorganism makes ammonia a natural process in the human body, which is because the body breaks down the food.
In most livers of regular people, that substance was ammonia, which was detoxified and then sent to be sent down the kidneys and excreted via the urine harmlessly.
Yet, cirrhosis is the last stage of liver disease that fails to function in an ammonia processing way so that it builds up in harmful amounts.
Ammonia can even travel to the brain and thereby create confusion or delirium, as pointed out by the researchers. That is called Hepatic Encephalopathy, and in the absence of treatment, it can possibly result in a coma and further death.
Diet is yet another and major player in these mechanisms, because western diet that is low in fiber and high in meat and carbo the product in the gut, which tends to rise ammonia levels.
How was the study conducted?
The present research study consists of 30 adults with cirrhosis who have been treated at Our center. Patients were asked to eat a meal containing one of three types of burgers: A pork/beef one for the first one, a second one made with a vegan meat alternative, and the third one using a vegetarian “bean burger recipe”.
The protein level of the three burgers was the same: it is approximately 20 grams. People had hamburgers paired with biblical-looking potato chips and whole grain bun, no prick safety toppings.
A short period after the completion of that meal, Bajaj et al. used the specific markers of amino acids in collaboration with blood to measure ammonia levels in blood.
The team found higher blood levels of ammonia among the burger stickers who went for the animal meat burger than the ones who ate both the plant burgers.
After the meal, the researchers measured ammonia levels in the blood using specific amino acid markers.
The study found that participants who ate the animal meat burger had higher blood ammonia levels than those who consumed the plant-based burgers.
Bajaj also noted that “It can be so hard to make long-term dietary and behavioral changes,” and “we wondered if making an occasional change could be an option for these patients. Liver patients with cirrhosis should know that making positive changes in their diet doesn’t have to be overwhelming or difficult.”