Comparison of Physical Activity and Fiber and Sugar Intake in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease with Healthy Individuals

Introduction: Nutrition as a modifiable risk factor that plays an important role in prevent or delay the onset of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, the aim of the current study was to assess and compare physical activity, dietary fiber and sugar intake between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and healthy individuals.Methods: The present case-control study was done on 225 cases of NFLD and 450 controls. International Physical Activity Questionnaire and Food Frequency questionnaire were used respectively to assess the physical activity level and dietary intake of individuals. Anthropometric measurements included weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio ware calculated for the subjects. All data were analysed using SPSS version 21.0. Results: the result of our study showed that the physical activity level of NAFLD patients were lower than control group (P<0.05). For the insoluble dietary fiber, we observed a significant lower consumption in the case group as compared to the control group (P<0.05). The fructose, galactose, total sugar, and glucose variables showed significant increase in the case group (P<0.05). Conclusions: Our results indicated that following unhealthy diet such as high consumption of simple carbohydrates such as glucose, fructose, and galactose might be related to NAFLD. However, consuming dietary fiber and insoluble fiber may play protective roles in NAFLD.

Keywords:

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease , NAFLD , fiber , Sugar , Exercise