Will my liver shrink????

Hi all! I am 18 days away from surgery and on a Atkins diet before surgery to shrink my liver.  I don't understand how this will work....I eat fatty, low/no carbs foods all day long?  I eat meats, cheeses, eggs, mayo, salad, etc..  Does this work?   My doc said "do low carbs, but don't eat a pound of bacon"..... so is what I am doing ok?  How can I get rid of the fat in my liver if I am eating fat???   PLEASE HELP! Thanks everyone!  I don't know what I would do without this place!  =) Akis

I'm not sure how it works medically, but basically when you are eating less, your liver shrinks.  My dr wouldn't operate on me unless I had lost weight presurgery and I wanted to ensure it happened so I gradually turned a meal into liquid, then two and then did 4 days of liquid the week before my appt with him!  I did mostly protein drinks, soup, water, etc.... I would still stick with low fat options - thats what most people do after surgery anyway - it's an adjustment to how we eat in addition to how much we eat.

Okay, so, what happens is every pound you lose, your liver shrinks a little, and low carb is the fastest and easiest way to lose weight.

Also, your liver keeps glycogen stores (thats misspelled, but it sounds like it) in your liver. After three days of low carbs, your liver gives up that glycogen store, and shrinks that way.

Fat does not automatically turn to fat in the body - that is kind of like thinking that if you eat broccoli, you will turn green.

The principles behind low-carb diets are that fat and protein satiate hunger much better, and for much longer, than do carbohydrates, and are metabolized into glucose much more slowly. So, even though a gram of fat contains 9 calories and a gram of carbohydrate contains 4, you will generally need far more grams of carbohydrates to feel satisfied than you would if you were eating only fat (and who the heck sits down and eats a block of butter, anyway?). It is much harder for the body to metabolize protein and fat to glucose (and thus, eventually, store the calories as fat) than it is to metabolize carbohydrates into glucose, which happens almost immediately.

The glucose causes insulin to be released, and in most obese people, that means too much insulin (due to insulin resistance) and the insulin is what causes the extra calories (extra as in beyond the calories you burn during the day, even simply to breathe) to be stored as fat. It must be said, of course, that no matter what you are eating, if you are eating more calories than you need, you will gain weight. A high protein, high-fat diet promotes reduction in calorie intake in part because it staves off hunger (rather than stimulating hunger, as carbohydrates do), but, yeah, if you gorge beyond hunger (i.e., the pound of bacon your doctor mentioned).

I would try to stay away from processed meats like bacon and deli meats (almost always made with sugar, by the way) if you can, and stick with whole, natural sources of fat and protein like regular meat, cheese and eggs, and try to limit fluid milk, which is high in lactose (milk sugar) - and the lower the fat content, the higher the lactose, by the way. 

I don't think you should worry too much, because your doctor knows what he/she is doing. If you follow the advice you were given, you should be fine.

Good luck!

My doc does a protein shake diet, that and water, thats it.  The loss of ANY weight significantly improves the liver, so they mainly want you to lose weight, let your body start taking some of that fat out of the liver.

I weighed 316 pre op and was told to do a 3 day pre op liquid diet, to shrink my liver. after surgery my doc said my liver was normal, and prior to the liquid diet, i ate normal ( everything)

My Dr wants me to follow a 2-week liquid diet. I mean am I really that fat!  Come On you gotta be kidding me!!!! I have heard some same their Dr says 3-4 days or less. Then what the HELL is My DR doing!?!?! Anyhow. I am really struggling. Any suggestion are welcomed, because I am a MEAT person, No reality check! I AM A FOOD PERSON! I love food, but can no longer continue to be OVERWIEGHT, BUT I don't know if I can manage being on a liquid diet knowing hopw much I am addicted to meat, andstuff. I need help!! If anyone out there can relate to what I am going through please HELP! I am only on Day 2 and feel like I am not going to be able to make it for another 8 days! HELP!!!

I know what you mean! 2 weeks is a long time to do the liquid dance!! i have to do it for 2 weeks as well.  i'm on day 5...it does get a little easier day by day.  i was starving the first 3 days.  yesterday afternoon was much better...i added sugarless protein water which helped.  i know besides losing weight, they also do it to menuever better around during surgery.  mine is laproscopic lap band so he needs to have room to the put the band in.  anything laproscopic for WLS i guess they want the liver to shrink.  i know it stinks....and i think it's the hardest part of this...but today is a holiday staff party and i'm having a cup of white bean chili (surgeon approved) and maybe a couple other little things....but after today...no more cheating :)
it does get easier (especially when you feel better in your clothes)

My doctor has told me to do a 3 week pre-surgery liquid diet!!  I'm a bit nervous as I start it on December 16, 2010, which is now about 9 days away.  I was told that it is to shrink the liver as well. I work in a hospital and have access to the ultrasound department.  I'm going to have someone measure my liver before I start it and then again 3 weeks later just to see the difference.  That will be pretty interesting to see I think.