A nutritional intervention that promotes increased vegetable intake in Japanese with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a six-month trial

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a nutritional intervention motivating increased vegetable consumption would be an effective treatment and diet therapy for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. We examined 15 patients with this disease (5 men and 10 women). During the 6-month intervention period, all participants received a small amount of vegetables twice a month as a nutritional education tool aimed at increasing vegetable consumption. They also received nutritional counseling and underwent ultrasound and blood biochemical examinations at baseline and 3 and 6 months after initiation of the intervention. Moreover, they were requested to submit dietary records for any 2 days. Green, white, and total vegetable intakes were significantly higher at 3 and 6 months than at baseline in 8 patients. These patients had significantly lower alanine aminotransferase and triglyceride concentrations than those whose vegetable intake did not increase. Additionally, green vegetable intake significantly negatively correlated with weight at 3 and 6 months (r = −0.617, p = 0.032 and r = −0.848, p = 0.008, respectively). These results suggest that our nutritional approach effectively increased vegetable consumption in at least some patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, consequently improving their condition.

Improvement trend for individual health guidance intervention according to Japan clinical guidelines by public health nurses for type 2 diabetes mellitus who visited for medical checkups regularly: a case-control preliminary report

“…(31) This approach aimed to address one of the primary challenges in implementing nutritional and/or lifestyle interventions, which is the high dropout rate among subjects in previous studies. (20,23,24,32,33) Therapeutic approach of health guidance intervention by nurses was found to be effective in the present study for individuals with DM who were also receiving pharmacotherapy. The study suggests that health guidance had a cumulative influence, even on subjects who regularly visited medical institutions.…”

“…( 31 ) This approach aimed to address one of the primary challenges in implementing nutritional and/or lifestyle interventions, which is the high dropout rate among subjects in previous studies. ( 20 , 23 , 24 , 32 , 33 )…”