Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and one of the most common causes of liver transplant. Safe, simple wheat germ may play a role in the solution.
In Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), fats, including cholesterol and triglycerides, collect in liver tissue. Being overweight and being insulin resistant play key roles in the progression of NAFLD. As many as 30% of people around the world are affected by NAFLD, and most of them don’t even know it.
Wheat germ used to be much talked about. But it has lost the spotlight to newer, more exciting supplements. If you have NAFLD, it may be time to take out the wheat germ again.
This double-blind study gave 50 people with NAFLD either a placebo or 40g of wheat germ a day for 12 weeks.
Wheat germ significantly reduced fat in the liver (hepatic steatosis), total cholesterol and triglycerides versus placebo. Compared to the placebo group, the liver enzymes ALT and GGT were significantly reduced in the wheat germ group.
Total antioxidant capacity and markers of inflammation (high sensitivity CRP) also improved significantly more in the wheat germ group. Improving antioxidant capacity and inflammation is important because free radical damage plays an important role in the progression from fatty liver to the more advanced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, in which the fat building up in the liver causes inflammation and can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure.
This study suggests that incorporating wheat germ could help the many people with NAFLD, especially considering, as one of the researchers in the study says, the “compelling findings” combined with “wheat germ’s stellar safety profile and low cost.”
Phytother Res. 2022 Nov;36(11):4201-420