A simple solution to treat your fatty liver | James Joseph | TEDxGateway

Summary

Joao Victor Coelho shares his journey from working at Microsoft to tackling India's diabetes and fatty liver crisis with green jackfruit flour. Through scientific studies and personal anecdotes, he demonstrates how adding just a small amount of jackfruit flour to the diet can reverse fatty liver, lower blood sugar, and prevent obesity. This affordable, scalable solution is especially important in India, where jackfruit is abundant. Coelho envisions fortifying wheat flour with jackfruit flour to improve the health of families across the country, addressing a pressing public health issue while embracing traditional food for modern solutions.

Takeaways

• 😀 136 million people in India are pre-diabetic, and if left untreated, many will develop diabetes within four years, overtaking China in diabetes prevalence.
• 😀 1 in 3 people in India, including children, suffer from fatty liver due to poor dietary habits, which is a major contributing factor to diabetes.
• 😀 Treating diabetes without addressing fatty liver is ineffective, as both conditions are interlinked, and fatty liver must be treated first to manage diabetes successfully.
• 😀 Green jackfruit, traditionally consumed as a vegetable in Kerala, has proven to be an effective natural solution for managing diabetes and fatty liver.
• 😀 The jackfruit flour, created from the soluble fiber of the green jackfruit, helps bind sugar and fat, preventing them from reaching the liver and causing harm.
• 😀 Adding just one tablespoon of jackfruit flour to meals can lower average blood sugar levels within 90 days, as shown in clinical trials.
• 😀 Clinical studies have demonstrated that the jackfruit flour can not only manage diabetes but also reverse fatty liver, even in severe cases.
• 😀 One preclinical study on mice revealed that adding 5% jackfruit flour to a high-fat, high-sugar diet prevents obesity and reduces liver fat, showing the potential to fight fatty liver disease and obesity on a larger scale.
• 😀 A real-world clinical trial with 30 diabetes patients showed that adding jackfruit flour to their meals resulted in a reduction of fatty liver markers in just three months.
• 😀 India, with 2.5 billion jackfruits available, has the potential to scale the use of jackfruit flour nationwide, improving public health and preventing diabetes and fatty liver on a massive scale.
• 😀 By fortifying wheat flour with 10% jackfruit flour, similar to the iodization of salt, we can create a practical, scalable solution to combat diabetes and fatty liver across India, benefiting millions of families.

Q & A

What motivated the speaker to leave a major software company and focus on health-related issues in India?

The speaker was motivated by the large-scale health problems in India, particularly diabetes, pre-diabetes, and fatty liver. With over 100 million diabetics and 136 million pre-diabetics, the speaker recognized a significant health crisis and felt compelled to make a difference by addressing these issues.

What is the main health problem the speaker identifies in India?

The main health problem identified by the speaker is the rising incidence of diabetes and fatty liver disease, with a focus on how untreated fatty liver contributes to the onset of diabetes.

Why does the speaker emphasize the connection between fatty liver and diabetes?

The speaker emphasizes this connection because fatty liver contributes to the development of diabetes. Before fat is stored in the pancreas, it first accumulates in the liver, which is the largest organ in the body. Treating diabetes without addressing fatty liver is seen as ineffective, similar to mopping a floor without turning off the tap.

What is the significance of the green jackfruit in the speaker's health initiative?

The green jackfruit plays a central role in the speaker’s initiative. It was discovered that consuming green jackfruit as a meal can be more beneficial for managing diabetes than traditional foods like roti. The speaker invented a flour made from green jackfruit, which, when added to meals, helped reduce blood sugar levels and reverse fatty liver.

What clinical evidence supports the effectiveness of jackfruit flour for managing diabetes and fatty liver?

Clinical evidence includes a study presented at the American Diabetes Association conference and published in *Nature* journal, which showed that adding jackfruit flour to meals reduced average blood sugar levels in just 90 days. Additionally, real-world clinical trials have shown that jackfruit flour helped reverse fatty liver in many patients.

How did the speaker's discovery of jackfruit flour gain attention from experts?

The speaker’s discovery attracted attention when Doctor Kalam, after reading the speaker's book, encouraged further exploration of jackfruit's health benefits. This led to a clinical trial, and the positive results—such as reversing fatty liver—led to more widespread interest from the medical community.

What was the outcome of the preclinical study on mice using jackfruit flour?

The preclinical study on mice revealed that just 5% of the diet replaced with jackfruit flour prevented obesity and significantly reduced liver fat, compared to a diet high in sugar and fat. This highlighted the potential of jackfruit flour to prevent obesity and fatty liver in humans as well.

What is the role of soluble fiber in jackfruit flour, and why is it important?

Soluble fiber in jackfruit flour is crucial because it prevents sugar, fat, and cholesterol from reaching the liver. It has 50% more soluble fiber than oats, which makes it an effective agent for controlling blood sugar levels and preventing fatty liver.

What practical solution does the speaker propose for addressing fatty liver and diabetes in India?

The speaker proposes fortifying wheat flour with 10% jackfruit flour as a practical, scalable solution. This could be implemented nationwide, potentially reversing fatty liver and preventing diabetes, while utilizing India’s abundant supply of jackfruits.

What is the potential impact of jackfruit flour on India's health, considering the country’s vast jackfruit resources?

Given that India produces 2.5 billion jackfruits annually, the widespread use of jackfruit flour could have a massive impact on public health by reducing obesity, reversing fatty liver, and preventing diabetes, especially if it’s added to staple foods like roti.