Scientists from Finland have discovered that a prebiotic fiber-based dietary supplement improves liver health in patients with fatty liver disease.
The study involved 42 overweight individuals who consumed 2.8 grams of xyl-oligosaccharides (XOS) daily for four months. XOS is a special type of dietary fiber that is not digested in the body but feeds beneficial bacteria in the gut. Researchers assessed the percentage of fat in the liver using magnetic resonance imaging before and after the experiment.
The supplement was found to reduce levels of harmful metabolic products that form in the intestines and contribute to the accumulation of liver fat. The most pronounced effect was observed in people with an imbalanced gut microbiome, where their bacterial balance improved, and the volume of visceral fat, the most dangerous type of fat surrounding internal organs, decreased.
The researchers noted that the effectiveness of the dietary supplement depends largely on the underlying condition of the gut and the condition of the liver, as participants with more severe symptoms of advanced fatty liver disease showed little to no effect, and they believe that these prebiotics or dietary supplements may become part of a treatment approach specifically for fatty liver disease in the future.
Some studies have shown that fatty liver disease not only affects the liver, but may also significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.
