Fitness Update: (Contributed by Rajat Bhatnagar, International Sports & Fitness Distribution, LLC, http://www.isfdistribution.com)
The most common therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is aerobic exercise and weight loss, which leads to a decrease in liver fat. However, instructions to engage in aerobic exercise are often not adhered to by patients, resulting in progression of the illness. Researchers from the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom set out to investigate whether a different type of exercise could be effective in treating the disease.
They conducted a small study in 20 men with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Each subject was assigned to either eight weeks of resistance exercise training or continued normal therapy. They found that after eight weeks, liver fat decreased by an average of 13 percent and improved glucose control and lipid oxidation. This is the first study to show that resistance exercise is potentially more effective than aerobic exercise in decreasing liver fat. However, larger studies should be conducted to explore the relationship between resistance exercise and liver fat.
