fatty liver - any tips?

[SpanishFly]

After having an ultrasound, I was told I have "some fatty deposits" on my liver, but I shouldn't worry too much about it.
However she also said I should start looking longer term, and make some diet changes, and also stick within government alcohol guidelines.
I have had 6 weeks off alcohol, after realising my drinking was OTT, and only had 10 units over the weekend. I aim for this to continue - none at all on week nights, then a few glasses at the weekend. I have started eating sardines every few days, plus trying harder to have 5-a-day, plus added things like walnuts/avocado into snacks.

I will also make more effort to go out for walks, as I have a sedentary lifestyle too.

Any other tips at all?

@VanGoghsDog thanks for the food ideas. They sound great. 💕

OP I did not want to give up alcohol, like you it is/was my crutch so I thought 'I really don't care about meat or caffeine' I don't smoke, I exercise and eat well. This is my one thing! So, I decided to up the anti on all food stuffs instead and look great and feel great for it.

Lots of water is key to flush toxins obvs.

But I eat fish so... like a pp almost to the letter, roasted veg with cous cous, also lentil cottage pie, homemade soups, some pasta sometimes (also menopausal and trying to reduce carbs) baked salmon with spinach/cherry toms wrapped in foil, 15 mins in oven and voila! etc, cauliflower cheese, interesting tuna salads/feta salads. Things like that. Home made veg curry.

If you were not given a follow up it means it was ok if you stick to what they told you. Which is what you are doing. I just felt so under the weather from main reason for being at hospital I gave it up for 6 months for many reasons. Then I drank as you do.

I had an MRI a year later and my liver was perfect BTW.

One bottle over a weekend is absolutely fine, in my view.

Good luck! SO many people have this with no idea.

A weekend is two days. Seems like a lot to me. And we're not talking about someone with no alcohol related health issue, we are talking about someone with them.

I would drink a bottle over three days.

I would stop completely. Liver disease is HUGE in this country and it doesn’t get publicised but then journalism has a reputation as a drinkers profession so I don’t suppose it ever will get the publicity it needs.

Hi @SpanishFly - did they tell you this at the ultrasound or was it the GP after. I'm going for one soon and I wish they'd just say what they find when I'm there as I'll be so nervous waiting for the GP to phone!

@ButterFox no, they don't tell you at the ultrasound, as the person doing the scan isn't qualified in that field- ie they're doing ultrasounds of liver, kidneys, bladder etc, so it needs to be passed to the specialist.
In my case I was told to contact my GP in 7 to 10days for the results.
So, if I were you, if you've to do the same as I did, I would arrange an appt with your GP for maybe 8 days later, so that it is the GO and not a receptionist giving the results to you. If you have questions, then a receptionist can't give you any answers.
Good luck. I'll message you x

@BillieEilish that's a good way to approach this, I think. Upping the ante with the good foods takes the pressure off the liver, and I'll cut right back on the nightly chocolate 😖
I need to lose weight too, so this will all help a lot. I needed a good shake to rethink some things, and it's certainly worked.

The GP saying you should stay within government guidelines is odd. I mean, everyone should stay within the guidelines, that's what they are for. If you're ill, surely you should be well under them? Make alcohol an exception not a regular thing.

Lots of water is key to flush toxins obvs

What? We're talking about the human body, not cleaning debris out of guttering.

Detoxification is literally the job of your liver. A healthy liver is key to flush toxins.

So reducing the strain on your liver by not giving it lots of extra unnecessary work to do and pumping your body full of rubbish is key to flush toxins.

Alcohol is basically drinking poison as far as your liver is concerned.

You are incredibly lucky that you have a liver issue that's treatable rather than one where people are discussing transplants and mortality with you. Don't squander that opportunity and don't mess about with foolish advice.

British Liver Trust has reliable information.

I completely understand why you don't want to let the wine go but now I don't even miss it. Please try the book I suggested. Its completely changed my life.

@Northernsoullover thank you. Yes, I'll definitely read it. I'm on a FB page where they rave about it too.
I have to say, 6 months ago I wouldn't have believed that I could have taken 6 weeks off without much effort. It was much easier than I feared. Cutting out forever is a different ballgame though.

@SpanishFly I know this is old. But can I ask how you've got on with the fatty liver. I have recently been told I have one. I am overweight but have began to eat healthier and lost weight, I used to enjoy a lot of wine on a weekend. But took a few weeks off drinking and have had 2 or 3 small glasses the last 2 weekends. Have you had any follow ups, my GP said they would re check bloods in 3 years but this seems like such a long time and would like checking before then to see if I am making progress in reducing/reversing the fatty liver.

Hi there, well, similar to you really - no follow-ups or anything.
I have lost a few stone in weight and have a much better diet overall, although it's definitely not perfect. I do "feel" much better than I used to, so the assumption seems to be that there's no need to keep checking how things are going, if that makes sense.
It doesn't reassure me in the slightest, and I do obsess over things like - what if things are worse than they told me, and nobody is actually monitoring things? It's frustrating. I am considering paying for a private fibroscan, just for my own peace of mind - so if things aren't great, then I will have to be referred to a specialist, but if things are looking good, I can relax more and stop analysing things!
The feeling with the GPs seems to be that a LOT of people have it, and most don't even know they have it, therefore we're at a bit of an advantage, I guess, in that we can take measures to try to reverse what damage is there. But it leaves us a bit in limbo when there's no monitoring of it all.
Are your blood tests normal or elevated? Also, ask the GP to calculate your Fib-4 score. It's an equation that uses various blood results to work out your likelihood of having/developing fibrosis, and it's apparently pretty accurate.
I also use a private company to have blood tests every 6m or so, just to keep an eye on it all.
My ALT reduced from 80 something to 20 something, so my liver is definitely happier.

Thanks @SpanishFly for replying. My bloods showed slightly elevated ALT and MCV 101, Ast was 28 (so in range). ALT was borderline first test at 40 so repeated 2 weeks later and had gone up slightly but still in 40s and fatty liver was seen on us. Yes I had Fib 4 score was around 0.5, its reassuring to know that its supposedly very accurate as my initial thoughts were how would that tell them anything without actually looking at my liver in detail! You've made me feel a little more reassured but same as you really would like more checks to see everything is moving in the right direction, but private bloods is a good idea to monitor, although would probably panic myself if they came back more raised than they are now. How long did it take for your ALT to get back within normal range? Who do you use for private bloods? Did you completely abstain from alcohol or do you still drink I do enjoy my wine and have cut down a lot and will definitely be staying within government guidelines but not sure I'd like to give it up entirely.

@Holidayyys my ALT was high for a couple of years, but nobody even flagged it up to me :/ Then it went down to 54 in Aug 2020 and was in the 20s by May 2021. I havent done any tests since June last year, so will probably do some next week - but, like you, it does panic me that they come back raised again. I use Thriva for mine.
I do still have wine. I had some at a family bday and then had more than I should over Easter weekend :/ Although we were at an engagement party in a hotel a few weeks ago, and I drove so that I wouldn't be tempted to drink. I had 0% beer, and I surprised myself, in that I didn't miss having a drink one bit - and I certainly didn't miss it when I woke up feeling great the next day, and seeing how sluggish DH was. My big concern re wine/beer will be the next time we go on a package holiday - it is so ingrained in me to drink pints and wine in the sunshine (I wonder how I got in this mess in the first place?!), I honestly don't know if I'd even enjoy a holiday without doing this every day - but, again, I might end up surprising myself by enjoying being much more alert and not feeling sluggish.
Part of me feels like ignorance is bliss, seeing others eating and drinking whatever they like - but logically I know that they are also potentially damaged already, and just don't know it yet.

They seem to have dropped fairly quickly for you so that's a good sign you must definitely be doing th right thing as surely if they are in normal range then your fib 4 score would be normal?! I actually did a recent holiday alcohol free as I was due bloods a week after we got back and I still had a really lovely time and didn't actually miss the drinking at all really, it is the first holiday without drinking that I can remember (apart from when I was pregnant)! I think I've seen Thrive advertised so I'll look at that. My partner now points out friends/acquaintances and people on TV that look like they have a less than healthy lifestyle to try and point out that its probably happening to a lot of people without realising. I also discovered a friend had a fatty liver too but they had just had it mentioned after an us and never had any bloods or further tests relating to it, so I suppose its positive that its been checked out slightly more thoroughly than that.

For other health issues I'm going "very rare alcohol".
Basically it's going to have to be a very good wine or special beer that's being shared on a celebration and I'm having a half / small glass.
Ask me in five years if it's working!

So sorry I didn't realise the specific turn the "awakened" thread had taken.
That'll teach me to post in haste.