NEW YORK: People suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease may benefit from regular exercise and replacing high-calorie beverages with decaffeinated, diet green tea, suggests new research.

The researchers found that a combination of green tea extract and exercise reduced the severity of obesity-related fatty liver disease by 75 per cent in mice fed a high-fat diet

Although untested in human trials, the results suggest a potential health strategy.

“Combining the two might have health benefits for people, but we don”t have the clinical data yet,” said Joshua Lambert, Associate Professor of Food Science at The Pennsylvania State University in the US.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a significant global health problem that is expected to worsen, Lambert said.

Because of the high prevalence of risk factors such as obesity and Type-2 diabetes, fatty liver disease is forecast to afflict more than 100 million people by 2030. And there are currently no validated therapies for the disease.

In the study, mice fed a high-fat diet for 16 weeks that consumed green tea extract and exercised regularly by running on a wheel were found to have just a quarter of the lipid deposits in their livers compared to those seen in the livers of a control group of mice.

Mice that were treated with green tea extract alone or exercise alone had roughly half as much fat in their livers as the control group.

(With inputs from agencies)