18 Comments
User's avatar
Bonnie Durrance's avatar

I think your way of helping us to visualize what’s going on in our inner engine room is brilliant! I am always careful about food, but I think differently about it now!

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Fantastic! So glad this resonates with you.

Expand full comment
Danielle Kane's avatar

This is really great— for all the reasons other commenters are saying: it’s easily understandable. To be clear, though, these behavioral changes will help the liver going forward, but is it possible to reverse the fat deposits etc that already accumulated?

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Yes, it would depend on the severity of the injury.

Expand full comment
C Wood's avatar

Wonderfully written article in a direct, relatable style sprinkled with humor. I especially appreciate the clear information how to apply the key principles (35-50gm of fiber, 7-9hours sleep, etc).

Thank you!

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

You are welcome!

Expand full comment
Gail Post, Ph.D.'s avatar

Very helpful description and good advice. Thanks!

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

You are most welcome! Thank you for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Expand full comment
Chris Dahl's avatar

This is great. As usual: so clear, so direct, so irrefutable. You bring new light to the morass of bewildering health advice. Thank you.

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Ah, thank you, Chris. That is my goal...complex to simple...dry and uninteresting to funny and memorable.

Expand full comment
Mark Kolkman's avatar

Great article, great analogies and very understandable!!

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Thank you, mission accomplished!

Expand full comment
Janet Burch's avatar

What a great writer you are! So understandable.

Thank you!

Trying to avoid metformin - just found out I'm diabetic...🙄

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Janet you can do it! One small step at a time. If you haven't already check out the download at the end of this article. It can help you down the right path. https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/p/this-is-what-it-sounds-like-when?r=3ufxse

Expand full comment
Cookie momster's avatar

A quibble with point 1. My body runs best on healthy smallish meals and snacks. ( eg snacks like an apple with a handful of almonds or cheese with tricuits). Plenty of veg, fruit, protein, mostly whole grains, limited refined carbs eaten only with protein and veggies. No sugary snacks. In contrast, my husband works best on two large healthy meals per day. We are both active and at healthy weights. So there is individual variation in frequency of eating. Yes no snacks 2 hr before bed.

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Certainly, will depend on a few factors, but those with metabolic dysfunction are typically eating unhealthy ultra-processed foods, all day...which has consequences.

Expand full comment
Pat Graves's avatar

This is an excellent way to depict what the Liver actually does as it functions in us! What effect do drugs have on the Liver?

Expand full comment
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA's avatar

Thank you! I’m so glad it clicked. As for drugs, great question. The liver processes most of them, but that workload can add up. Some meds (like high doses of Tylenol) or long-term use of certain drugs can stress it out, just like food overload does.

Expand full comment