Fatty Liver Diet

If we know how to control our lifestyle, food, and drink intake, we can prevent fatty liver. One of the potential treatments to stop or reduce its progression is following the fatty liver diet. A fatty liver diet is very similar to a weight loss diet because the fatty liver is not as apparent as other diseases. Most of the patients suffer from obesity and being overweight. We modify some diet changes to help sufferers in the fatty liver diet, and we recommend some tips to prevent the disease.
We provide a complete guide about the fatty liver diet in this article and are acquainted with the prevention, control, and treatment of this disease with a fatty liver disease diet.

Fatty liver is the liver's state that the amount of fat in this organ increases more than usual, and the liver becomes fatty. Normal liver contains about 5% fat. When it reaches more than 5%, it makes you some problem.
As the importance of this organ in the metabolism of fats in the body, any dysfunction should be monitored since lifestyle and diet planning have a key role in preventing or improving fatty liver disease.

Many factors can play a role in the development of the fatty liver, and some of them are related to diet, including the most important causes of fatty liver:
♦ Obese
♦ Inactivity
♦ Alcoholic drinks
♦ Insulin resistance
♦ Type 2 Diabetes
♦ Extreme Choline deficiency
♦ Taking some drugs
♦ Hepatitis C
♦ Pulmonary tuberculosis

However, we can not control all fatty liver risk factors; some of the causes can be controlled by changing the lifestyle and doing a fatty liver disease diet.

Elimination of the underlying cause of the disease is the first approach to curing fatty liver, so it's important to find the main cause.
Losing weight, lifestyle modification, and fatty liver diet planning play a significant role in treating fatty liver disease. Controlling blood glucose, lowering triglycerides, and restricting alcohol consumption with a fatty liver diet are basic treatments for fatty liver. Some supplements like vitamin E and other antioxidants can also help treat fatty liver.

We said above that you should follow a diet for someone with fatty liver to treat the disease. The fatty liver diet is a restricted diet low in fat and carbs, free of trans fat and sugar, and high in fruits, vegetables, and antioxidants.
Losing weight helps fatty liver treatment. Losing more than 5% of total body weight in patients with fatty liver can reduce liver steatosis. Losing more than 7% of body weight also helps to minimize lobular inflammation. And finally, losing more than 10% of body weight in overweight and obese patients leads to reduced fibrosis and risks of developing.

Although the western diet is associated with NAFLD, some diets help with fatty liver treatment. Choosing a proper diet for fatty liver treatment depends on your condition, so consult with your dietitian before beginning any fatty liver diet plan. Here are some diets that help fatty liver treatment:
♦ Dash Diet
♦ Mediterranean Diet
♦ Vegan/Vegetarian Diet
♦ Atkins Diet
♦ Low-Carb Diet
♦ VLCD diet

Depending on your conditions, your dietitian may prescribe one of the above diets to cure fatty liver.

Losing weight with liver disease is the first step to curing it. It will help if you lose 0.45 - 0.90 kg (1-2 lb) of your weight per week with a suitable weight loss diet for fatty liver. Note that rapid weight loss may negatively affect the disease, particularly the nonalcoholic one, and make it worse.
Rapid weight loss during a very low-calorie diet (that you should eat 400 calories per day) is related to increased portal inflammation and serum bilirubin levels, so it should be avoided and must be under control. In a fatty liver disease diet, we restrict energy intake to about 25–30 kcal/kg/day with a target weight loss of about 10% of body weight over six months.
A principled weight loss diet for fatty liver and with exercises will improve your health.
Therefore, if you are looking for a weight loss diet for fatty liver, keep in mind that you should not be losing weight too fast with liver disease.

Some foods can increase the risk of developing fatty liver, so you should avoid them in your fatty liver diet or reduce your intake. There are foods to avoid with fatty liver:

• Fructose: you should limit fructose intake in the fatty liver diet. Fructose leads to insulin resistance and hepatitis. You can find fructose in corn syrup, honey, sugar, juice, soda, etc.
• Trans fatty acids: They are manufactured fats created during a process called hydrogenation, which stabilizes polyunsaturated oils to prevent them from becoming rancid and keep them solid at room temperature. You can find it in can foods, biscuits, etc.
• Alcohol: Alcoholic drinks are among fatty liver foods to avoid. Even a small amount of alcohol can worsen fatty liver. So people with fatty liver should avoid alcohol entirely. (There isn't enough research about red wine)
• Saturated fats: Eating a large amount of saturated fat in the fatty liver diet is associated with NAFLD. So limiting red meat, chicken skin, and other saturated fat sources can help fatty liver treatment.
• Simple carbs: Like fructose, simple carbs are associated with fatty liver disease, so you should limit them in the fatty liver diet. The most common sources of simple carbs are white bread, white rice, sugar, candy, cake, etc.
• Fried food: Fried foods are high in calories, fat, and usually salt, which are all bad for fatty liver. They also are high in trans fatty acids, which you should avoid in the fatty liver diet. Another worry about fried food is acrylamide, a chemical that forms in foods cooked at high temperatures and causes cancer.
• Salt: High salt intake is closely associated with elevated risks of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So you should limit salt intake to less than 10g per day in your fatty liver diet. And also other fatty liver foods to avoid include salty foods like pickles, can foods, fast foods, etc.

In general, some foods can help to fight against fatty liver. Here are the best foods for fatty liver:

• Non-starchy vegetables: Vegetables are low in calories and high in vitamins and minerals. They are also high in fiber and antioxidants, which are two essential factors for fatty liver treatment. We suggest all kinds of non-starchy vegetables for fatty liver.
• Fresh fruits: Fruits are among the healthiest food on our planet, and you can count them as the best food for fatty liver. Fruits, just like vegetables, are high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Unlike vegetables, fruits are fairly high in calories and should not be eaten in excess and should eat moderately in the fatty liver disease diet.
• Nuts and seeds: Due to their unique nutrients composition, they provide health benefits for preventing and treating NAFLD. Add a moderate amount of nuts and seeds to your fatty liver diet.  Be sure to take unsalted of them.
• Omega-3 sources: Olive, olive oil, avocado, oily fish, etc., are high in omega-3. Omega-3 PUFAs improved Fatty liver, GGT, TG, and HDL in patients with NAFLD/NASH. Thus add these foods to your fatty liver diet.
• Whole grains: Whole grains are good food for fatty liver and are highly recommended as part of a healthy diet and effectively manage fatty liver disease. Many studies consistently find associations between whole-grain intake and a reduced risk of obesity and related diseases like fatty liver. Consumption of whole grains in the fatty liver diet had beneficial effects on hepatic steatosis and liver enzyme concentrations in NAFLD patients.
• Legumes: Legumes are one of the best sources of soluble fiber and provide you with many minerals. They are also high in plant protein and keep you feeling full. Studies show that a greater intake of legumes, lentils, and beans is associated with a lower risk of NAFLD. Combine legumes with whole grains to make a perfect meal in your fatty liver diet.
• Zinc, copper, vitamins A, C, D, E, and carotenoids: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients have been shown to have decreased levels of serum zinc, copper, vitamins A, C, D, and E. The best sources of them include:
Zinc: poultry, nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes, shellfish
Copper: Oysters, dark chocolate, mushrooms, cashew nuts, turkey, tofu, sunflower seed
Vitamin A: Carrot, tomato, red bell pepper, pumpkin, leafy green vegetables, milk
Vitamin C: Citrus fruits, bell pepper, strawberries, tomato, cruciferous vegetables
Vitamin D: Cod liver oil, salmon, tuna, sardine, egg yolk, fortified food
Vitamin E: Wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds, almond, peanut, beet green, collard green, pumpkin, mango, avocado

If you are interested in eating meat in your fatty liver diet, you should know that the best meat for fatty liver is white meat like chicken and fish, but you should know that eating too much meat is not suitable for you, and you must focus on plant foods.

The low carbohydrate diet leads to lowering serum levels of triglyceride and higher HDL cholesterol levels.
Adiponectin is a hormone secreted by adipose tissue that stores body fat and has insulin-sensitizing. As much as fat accumulation in the body increases, it is much possible to have a liver injury. Therefore, weight adoption is necessary.
Elevating the amount of fiber in the fatty liver diet by setting more portions of vegetables and fruits can reduce bad fats like cholesterol by binding to them and taking them away from the digestive system. Fibers located in vegetables and fruits fill most of the stomach volume and induces satiety in person. So, they eat fewer foods. Also, the fibers slow down the absorption of carbs.
Replacing canola and sunflower oils with saturated fats has a significant effect on controlling body fat intake. Olive oil, peanut oil, avocados, nuts such as walnut, almonds, and cashews are good sources of healthy fats that you can use in a fatty liver diet.

For people who have a high desire to drink alcohol, abstain from drinking may be difficult. Still, as soon as these patients stop drinking about 2 – 6 weeks, they can reverse the harmful effect of alcohol on their liver.
Alcohol addicted people get the most of the daily energy needed to live from alcohol, so their diet is low in minerals, vitamins, and proteins. Alcohol decreases the absorption of minerals like zinc, so significant deficiencies should pay attention to for them.
Vitamin A and E, Zinc supplementation is remarkable.
If you have a problem associated with quitting drinks, talk to your doctor about abstaining from alcohol.

Many people ask us about keto and fatty liver. The main problem in fatty liver is fructose and sugar intake. When a person consumes a lot of fructose in her/his diet, the liver uses extra fructose to create fat; excess fat will be stored in the liver and makes it fatty. The best fatty liver treatment diet is a low calorie, low saturated fat, and high fiber content.
The basic recommendation is that your maximum fat intake should not be more than 30% of your daily energy, but about 75% of calories of a keto diet are dedicated to fats, so it is not logical and reasonable to follow the keto diet.
The process of losing weight should be steady, step-by-step, continuously, and slow, but the keto diet is a rapid and short-term losing weight diet, and as mentioned before, fast losing weight has a destructive effect on the treatment of fatty liver. We lower the number of carbohydrates in the keto diet, but as we need fibers included in fruits and vegetables, it is almost impossible. Of course, in the first stage of fatty liver, the keto diet may help us to treat fatty liver.
However, if you insist on following a keto diet, you can contact our consultant for more information or talk with your dietitian.