In the near future, fatty liver disease is projected to become the major reason for liver transplants. A new study in mice has found that stevia extract can improve signs of the condition.
Fatty liver disease, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, involves the liver being made up of more than 5% fat. There is currently no cure for the condition, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Although the exact cause of fatty liver disease is still unclear, risk factors include obesity and high sugar consumption.
The condition is becoming increasingly common in children, in which case doctors refer to it as pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Investigators from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, in California, have led a new study in mice to see whether replacing sugar with sweeteners could help combat the disease. They found that stevia extract, a noncaloric sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar, can reduce markers of fatty liver disease.
The findings appear in the journal Scientific Reports.
Excessive consumption of sugar is known to damage the liver, so reducing sugar consumption — or replacing sugar with sweeteners — is likely to reduce the risk of developing liver disease.
This is the first study, however, to investigate whether calorie-free sweeteners could improve signs of the condition.
The researchers looked at two types of sweetener: sucralose, an artificial sweetener commonly marketed as Splenda, and stevia, which is naturally occurring and extract