We're kicking things off with our story of inspiration.
Today we're meeting a Chicago man who hopes
that his story will inspire you
to take up a healthy lifestyle that will benefit your liver.
Tony Bonavolanta and his wife have been happily married
for more than twenty years.
- I'm incredibly blessed with a wonderful wife.
We have a very deep bond.
I am passionately in love with my wife.
(chuckles)
- [Jane] But during their marriage,
Tony struggled to stay at a healthy weight.
- [Tony] My weight's always frustrated me.
All my life I've been up and down.
We talked about it and she's, "You gotta do something".
- [Jane] A routine physical followed
and led to the discovery of another health concern.
Tony was diagnosed with fatty liver disease.
- [Tony] I was really scared.
The thought of this taking our time away,
it bothered me a lot.
- The proper name is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
or NAFLD, but it's also referred to as fatty liver disease
and it's a disease where fat accumulates
in the liver, not related to alcohol.
It's most commonly associated with excess abdominal weight.
Most people have no symptoms, unfortunately.
So it really comes down to having
abnormal liver chemistry tests.
Fatty liver disease in general, or NAFLD, is very common.
It's about 30% of the U.S. adult population,
but only about 25% of those people
will go on to get advanced or more significant liver damage.
- [Jane] Unfortunately, Tony fell into the second category.
His disease progressed to cirrhosis.
- So cirrhosis basically is excessive accumulation
of scar tissue that leads to not just distortion
of the liver architecture itself, but also leads
to impairment in liver function.
The most important thing is to lose a little bit of weight.
Weight loss can be beneficial to reduce fat inflammation
and even scarring to some extent in the liver.
- [Jane] With his wife's encouragement,
Tony decided to make a change.
(inspiring music)
- My wife, she says, "You really need
to do something about your weight."
I made a firm commitment to myself that I would do it.
- [Jane] First, Tony began focusing
on eating more fruits and vegetables.
- Cooking things that, as always,
that are more healthy for me to eat.
- So even if the liver disease can't improve substantially,
improving your diet, less saturated fat,
less carbohydrate intake, overall trend towards weight loss
and increased exercise will decrease your
cardiovascular risk and that's really the most important
cause of death in people with fatty liver disease.
- [Jane] Tony also made exercise
a regular part of his routine.
- [Tony] I'll ride my bike to the health club,
it feels fantastic.
It's a perfect activity because it just gives me
that time to feel good about it
that I've done something for myself.
- [Jane] Tony's hard work paid off.
- Through diet and through exercise,
I lost a substantial amount of weight.
My liver hasn't gotten worse, it kept it in check.
And I think that's what exercising
and losing the weight has all helped me accomplish.
- [Mary] I think what's remarkable about Tony
is that his disease has been totally stable
for over ten years.
He really has not had any significant complications.
Since then, I think a lot of this is attributed
to the fact that he's been extremely diligent
about changing his lifestyle.
- [Jane] With his disease in check, Tony is focused
on enjoying quality time with his wife.
- [Tony] It feels incredibly great
and she's continuously supportive, as well.
We both have the same goals.
We've got a goal alignment there
that we both need to have a healthy lifestyle.
- [Jane] He now hopes that his story will inspire others
to make healthier food choices
and to get up and get moving more.
- [Tony] If you are in that same category that I was in,
please, please, please take care of yourself,
have a healthy lifestyle.