A survey has found that 94.1 percent of Taiwanese with fatty liver disease do not think it affects their lives or health, while 38.1 percent of people with the disease eat out for most of their meals.
The Taiwan Fucoidan Development Association yesterday released the results of a survey it conducted to understand people’s awareness of fatty liver disease and the health effects of eating out.
Many people are fond of eating lunchboxes, which are usually high in calories and fat content, as well as hot pot and stir-fried rice and noodles, association deputy secretary-general and nutritionist Tsai Yi-kuan (蔡儀冠) said.
About one in every four adults in Taiwan has fatty liver disease, 30 percent of whom developed the condition from alcohol use, while obesity and diabetes led to contraction of the disease for about 70 percent, Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital Division of Gastroenterology physician Wu Ming-shun (吳明順) said.
“Many people used to think it is okay to have fatty liver disease, but actually it increases the risk of hypertension and diabetes by one-and-a-half to two times,” he said, adding that more than 70 percent of people with diabetes have fatty liver disease.
Because fatty liver disease usually shows little to no symptoms, many patients neglect it, which risks its development into steatohepatitis (fatty liver hepatitis), cirrhosis or even liver cancer, Wu added.
For example, a man in his 50s who was diagnosed more than 10 years ago with mild fatty liver disease, but continued to eat deep-fried food and drink sugary beverages at least twice a week and led a sedentary lifestyle, developed moderate-to-severe nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and is at risk of developing diabetes, he said.
“The best way to reduce fat in the liver is to lose weight and exercise more,” Wu said.
The survey showed that 66.1 percent of patients do not know what types of foods could reverse the effects of fatty liver disease, while 95.8 percent do not have the habit of counting daily caloric or fat intake, Tsai said.
While eating out, people should choose to eat more vegetables or seaweed, which are low in calories, but high in dietary fiber, replace red meat with low-fat chicken or fish and eat fruit after meals, she said.
She also advised people to not only count calorie intake, but also eat foods with balanced nutrition and to avoid foods that are high in sugar and fat.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard