What Type 2 Diabetes Does To Your Liver
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Yes, type 2 diabetes damages your liver. Here is what most check-ups don't cover.
7 in 10 already have a fatty liver
Type 2 diabetes puts fat in the liver. About 7 in 10 people with type 2 have it, and about 1 in 5 already have scarring. It goes in steps: fat, then inflammation, then scarring, then cirrhosis. There's no pain at any step.
Your A1C and your liver test can't see it
Your A1C measures blood sugar, nothing else. The liver numbers on routine blood work (ALT and AST) often come back normal even when there's fat and scarring. The American Diabetes Association now recommends a separate scarring check (FIB-4) for every adult with type 2.
Metformin doesn't protect your liver
Keep taking it. It lowers your blood sugar, and does that well. But US liver guidelines don't use metformin to treat fatty liver.
The risk
Type 2 diabetes roughly doubles the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer, and fatty liver is now the fastest-growing reason Americans need a liver transplant.
What you can do
Your liver protects itself with glutathione, and type 2 diabetes drains it. NAC supplies the building block your body rebuilds it from: in a 2011 study, people with type 2 had their glutathione back up within two weeks.
See Nordvia Complete Liver Support
General health information, not medical advice. Keep taking your diabetes medication as prescribed. If you take insulin or another blood-sugar-lowering medication, talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.