When blood tests are done, transaminases are among the most frightening values, since – if high – they are an indicator of liver damage. Nutrition and lifestyle are clearly fundamental in restoring normal values, but sport can also play its part, as explained by the Professor Alessio Aghemohead of Hepatology at the IRCSS Istituto Clinico Humanitas.
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“When there is a liver diseasethe proteins inside it come out and are found in the blood in increased quantities. Have high transaminases it means that there is something that damages the liver: the causes can be differentfrom viruses to drugs, up to genetic diseases and fatty liver, hepatic steatosis, which leads to inflammation and damage” explains the professor.
Professor, can sport help lower transaminases?
“Absolutely yes. If the cause of the increase in transaminases is a virus or a genetic disease, sport can contribute because extends life from a cardiovascular point of view, although in this case it cannot directly lower transaminases. In case of fatty liver, often associated with obesity and diabetes, sporting activity, on the other hand, has even greater effects. Sport, combined with a healthy lifestyle, leads to a decrease in liver fat. In this case, sporting activity is able to lower transaminases, reducing damage to the liver, both through weight loss and through the activity itself. Lifestyle also has an impact in this case. A person who plays sports will clearly follow a better dietwith greater attention to what he eats both in terms of quantity and calories and in terms of quality, possibly following the Mediterranean diet, since it is based more on vegetable proteins and which includes less red meat, few industrialized foods and little alcohol”.
What sports are best suited to lowering transaminases?
“The studies carried out have not revealed particular differences between one activity and another in this sense, whether it’s running or weightlifting, aerobic or anaerobic activity. The recommendation that we doctors make to those with high transaminases is: walk at least half an hour at a brisk pace 3-4 times a day. This is the basic recommendation, then every sporting activity brings benefits in this sense.”
Should we be careful when doing sports before blood tests, however?
“Yes why GOT transaminases are also present in muscleso if I make an intense effort the day before the blood tests I can find transaminase values much higher than real, therefore leading to ‘false positives’. It happened that some patients found themselves with very high values for a few days before the blood sample they had done a marathonsince obviously the muscular effort was so intense that it created a transaminase response. GPT transaminases, however, are only hepaticand you must be careful not to take medications in the days before because they are affected by the intake of anti-inflammatories and painkillers.”
