Non-alcohol-induced fatty liver on the rise

Even if you are not a heavy alcoholic consumer, you can have a fatty liver if you consume excessive amounts of white rice, bread, carbonated drinks, coffee and chocolate.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, fatty livers come in two categories; one that is alcohol-induced and the other which is not.

It has been the generally information that heavy drinking is the main cause of fatty livers but carbonated drinks and glucose have proven to be the stronger causes.

In the most recent medical study conducted in 2007, 57 percent of those suffering from fatty livers were the non-alcoholic type.

Fatty livers are conditions in which the organ has more than 5 percent in fat content and the percentage of those which escalate to a variety of forms of diseases, including cancer, has risen from 11.5 percent in 2004 to 23.6 percent in 2010.

Prof. Han Kwang-hyup of the Severance Hospital of Yonsei University said there are new causes of the increase, including women who go through menopause and gain weight.