Fatty Liver Diet

[Cat551]

I need some help with my diet. I don’t need to lose weight. I’m 5’ 4’’ and 125 lbs. My fatty liver, I believe is caused by my high cholesterol and LPa lipids (mild CAD). I’m on 2 statins which control it fairly well. I have fatigue, a little too much fat around my middle and sometimes get mild pain under right ribs. I’ve cut out processed snacks and sugar, but didn’t eat a lot lot before. I was a fairly healthy eater before trying to improve my liver. I don’t eat a lot of meat, mostly vegetables, but eat fish and occasionally white meat chicken or turkey. I only eat whole grains and now trying to limit my carbs. But everything has carbs, so it’s hard to keep it under 50% of my calories. What do I eat? I’m only getting about 900-1000 calories a day, eating like this. Vegetables and fruits don’t have a lot of calories. Not sure how to eat to help or hopefully reserve my NAFL. Any advice would be appreciated.

[MLB_77]

I am also slim and always looking for ways to add calories but still being mindful.

My go-to is nuts. I eat handfuls every day throughout the day.

[Nwalenflkw]

I have the same issue of not being able to afford to drop weight… I’ve been trying out the dash diet. This website has tons of recipes if you click around: kidney.org/atoz/content/Das...

Still waiting to see a doctor (was diagnosed in ER) so it’s just what I’m trying on my own, but it does seem to get you enough calories if you stick to it. Would love to hear any tips other people here have for maintaining their weight.

[TNWONDER]

Cat et al. - the key is to not overcomplicate this. I too am athletic, trim, etc but i had to make some dietary adjustments in order to better my liver health. I cut out all sugar, and i mean all sugar, added sugar, sugar alternatives, etc. That is the single most important thing you can do. Pay attention to added sugars in particular. If something even has 1g of added sugar i refrain. Next cut out red meat, processed meats and fatty meats. That means no pork products, sausages, bacon, etc as well. Next completely cut out anything white. No white rice, pasta's etc. It's garbage and toxic. Next, what i do is keep things simple for breakfast and lunch. I will have whole grain oats a couple of days/wk with some fresh blueberries and unsweetened almond milk. I drink a pot of coffee every morning with a bit of unsweetened oat milk. I will have eggs or egg white 1-2x per week or Ezekiel sprouted toast with some mashed avocado and olive oil. Lunch is the same every day. Its a nutribullet shake with kale, blueberries, chia seeds, tumeric, a small piece of frozen banana, and almond milk. Mid afternoon snack is black tea and some seeds/nuts. Dinner is plant based 3-4x per week. Eggplant is a staple. Some type of bean dish. I'll have brown rice pasta 1x week with some roasted zucchini and lemon zest over it. There are so many delicious recipes to be found. Chicken i will have 1x per week and fish maybe 2x per week. Dessert i've found some good recipes for energy bites featuring dates, unsweetened almond butter, raw cocoa powder, etc. I also have a good amount of fruit and nuts. I also have a good chia/quinoa chips which i like to have with hummus or salsa. I'll have 2 glasses of red wine once per week, usually on a Friday or Saturday night. Life is good. I have a follow up next month and my expectation is that i've mostly eliminated the fat in my liver. I also exercise 4x/week, full court basketball for 2 hours each time. Drenched in sweat. Lost 30 lbs since last October. BMI down to 21.

[MLB_77 in reply to TNWONDER]

I’ve only experimented with eggplant twice. Both fails. What is your go-to method?

[TNWONDER in reply to MLB_77]

Hi - i typically cut the eggplant into rounds. I dredge them into an egg mix, and then coat them lightly with whole grain breadcrumbs. Olive oil spray a pan and BAKE them (not fried!). Once i take them out i drizzle them with a little EVOO. You can add a little fresh tomato sauce on them (no sugar added) or sometimes i will make a greek style sauce with low fat yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and drizzle over the eggplant. So much you can do here and its a hearty meal

[Cat551 in reply to TNWONDER]

Actually I’ve been eating much like you for several years now. With some missteps since I didn’t know any better until now. I used to eat some processed (what I thought were healthy) snacks everyday and some added sugar, but always kept it to under 20 grams a day. I also had a drink about once a month or once a day on vacations and took a one Tylenol nightly. I’ve lived a fairly healthy existence with these few exceptions. Even then my friends thought my diet was too stringent.

Now I’ve dropped all added sugars but use a small amount of pure organic stevia occasionally. I’ve cut out processed foods with a few limited plant based healthy ingredient exceptions. No Tylenol unless absolutely needed or any other supplements without checking it out. I won’t drink alcohol again.

What percentage of your macro calories are carb/protein/fat? The best I’ve been about to accomplish eating healthy carbs like oatmeal, fruits and vegs is 50% carbs and 20% protein/ 30 % fat. And I’m losing more weight. I’m trying not to overthink this.

My goal is to decrease my liver fat and belly fat, and my liver enzymes without losing any more weight. I’m also wondering if I can reverse my fatty liver at, since I inherited aggressive high fats, mainly LPa, a type of bad cholesterol. I’ll keep plugging along and looking for a GI that takes fatty liver disease seriously. Thank you for your thoughts and advice.

[Kokomodo]

Cat551, I'm curious what you mean by "carbs" and why you are trying to limit them. 30/50/20 percent fat/carb/protein is the recommended ratio, or close, is it not?

TNWONDER, by "all sugar" I assume you mean added refined sugar, corn syrup, etc. You include fresh fruit in your diet. Also, since you drink wine regularly, what was your diagnosis?

In general, I'm curious about the relationship between diet and fatty liver in a case such as Cat551, who believes the cause to be cholesterol, not an excess of added sugar, saturated fat, or red meat as may be the case for many Americans. LPa is, itself, not influenced by diet, as I understand it.

[Cat551 in reply to Kokomodo]

For the past 7 years since having a calcium scoring test that revealed mild plague and put me in the 67 percentile for my age, I’ve been eating ‘what I thought’ quite well, But I was doing some wrong things like a very low fat diet (an Ornish type diet), but not quite as rigid. No red meat, whole grains and little added sugar. I believe this very low-fat diet, which greatly increased my carbs (although while grain), may have worsened my fatty liver, along with the high cholesterol. No, I don’t drink and I do eat fruit. I’ve never been considered overweight and had a decent diet before the testing, and very rarely drank. So I can’t say for certain, it’s just a guess.

As far as carbs, I believe several studies say a lower carb diet puts less stress on the liver. Although, my dr. and dietitian say a Mediterranean diet is enough. I’m trying to go with the research, but it’s difficult.

Since my BMI is normal and I don’t appear to have metabolic syndrome, a new doctor thinks perhaps my fatty liver may come from a genetic defect or possibly an autoimmune condition. Where my liver cannot process cholesterol correctly. Although, only speculation at this point. And wants to do more testing. I wish I knew the cause and knew how to treat it correctly.