Do you have to eat carefully due to a health condition?

[Rosietru]

I have recently been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BMI 19, hardly drink and eat healthy ish anyway but as it seems to only be controlled by lifestyle I think I have to up the ante. I don't do any of the usual risk factors, so not sure how successful this will be though.

Feels like a lot of years ahead of having to be ultra careful and not really bring able to enjoy the odd big night.

How do you go about it, how strict are you, do you ever go off plan? I have eaten 3 biscuits today and now crippled with guilt.

Disclaimer- I'm pleased it's caught early and I may be able to stop it worsening.

I've just creeped into the prediabetic range. It's alarmed me into action but the initial enthusiasm is now wearing off and I'm fed up. Obviously I know it's lifestyle related and I have no choice but to be careful, but God, it's depressing. I feel guilty anytime I overdo it on the carbs and I frantically try to walk it off. I feel so miserable at the thought of never getting to just relax and enjoy food anymore.

I have liver cirrhosis. I had cancer three times and the chemo and radiotherapy damaged my liver badly. For me I eat what I like but have reduced pain relief. My consultant advised upping my coffee intake too. I never use salt, and haven't since I was first pregnant but know lots of produce you buy will contain it. Obviously no alcohol but I rarely drank. And that's it.
My stage is so much further along than yours, but you just have to look after your body as unfortunately any non alcohol diagnoses are the ones the liver can't repair.
I also have Crohns disease so when that flares up I stop eating until it passes.

I had a fatty liver and was told to follow a low fat diet. It’s important not to take it to the extreme though as your body does need some normal fats. I also have Crohns and a lot of people think this means you need to eat differently but that’s not been my experience. Eat sensibly most of the time and have the odd treat here and there ie sticky toffee pudding after a lovely carbonara every couple of weeks. A chocolate biscuit with your daily afternoon cuppa is fine. Ideally a digestive for example would be better.

@SnowmanInTheSun this is how I'm feeling a little.

Thank you for your experiences @froufroulala and @Whatevershallidowithmylife I really appreciate it and wish you both well. I tend to start things with enthusiasm but then wane, it's the not ever waning bit that I will struggle with. Interesting what you say about painkillers, do you mean paracetamol? I probably have about 8 a week on average (headache sufferer) - would that have an impact?

T2 diabetes so I have to follow a low carb diet. Yes it gets tedious but when I look at the alternatives like insulin injections or losing limbs or my eyesight I find the energy.

Type 2 diabetes here. Struggle to look after myself as it is without the added complications this brings. I’m so tired of having to think about food.
I wish you all well.

Another type 2 diabetic here. When I was first diagnosed December 2023 I had a run of 6 months of really eating healthy and well, halved my sugar levels and my Diabetic Nurse was very pleased. But things crept back in and now I am on another medication for the diabetes. I have been told if this doesn't work then insulin is the next step. I don't know why I can't get it together. I have literally been shown the damage to my eyes and been told it is already messing up my kidney function. I am really struggling to make the necessary changes.

I am only allowed paracetamol and tramadol, new research on the former has put me off tbh so now use tramadol sparingly plus the good old hot water bottle. If you have headaches try and find out why. I know my life is limited but treat each day as though I am going to live forever.
I am not sure how to improve a fatty liver as I went from a healthy liver to a cooked one. Your weight seems fine.
I think a lot of people do not realise the liver is the work horse of the body so anyone reading this, do everything you can to keep it healthy please.

I have a few dietary restrictions and no alcohol is one of them. 7 years of that now. Honestly, I don't miss it, my health is more important. Think of the long run.

Kind of. I'm technically "underweight" - always have been, its not due to illness - but my family is chock full of diabetes. All thin or slim, but we are of an ethnicity where its extremely common and we are very small framed people, so even at "healthy" weight can carry fat around the middle. So its a balancing act to get enough calories and protein but not too many carbs, and I'm also vegetarian. I need to build muscle as well. I would like to be vegan but honestly I find doing high protein lowish carb vegan too difficult unless its just protein powders all day. My diet is quite repetetive I suppose but I'm happy with it, I'm just used to it now. And I really, really don't want T2. I've seen some relatives have really bad complications. So I try to have 70-80g protein per day, as little sugar as I possibly, and a moderate amount of primarily in the form of vegetables, new potatoes, and a small amount of wholemeal bread. This seems to be okay as I my HbA1c was apparently "on the higher side of normal".

Yes. I have many. Some not so pressing some are.

I have ibs which has taken out dairy and wheat , most vegetables and fruit.

I have a bladder that reacts to acidic things and chemicals used in processed foods.

that alone left me with about 20 % of food out there to eat as mostly the wheat free and dairy free foods contain chemicals that my bladder cannot handle … think living with the effects of a water infection day in day out. Not nice.
And in August 2023 I was diagnosed with gall bladder stones. So that means I now can only mostly just eat fruit and veg and most of those are cut out by my ibs and bladder.

when I tell people this they mostly say I couldn’t live like that or I would just eat the food anyway have no fecking clue and I just laugh. Pain is a daily thing I cope with. And most foods now are a lottery of what will happen to me when I eat this food.

I was told I had a fatty liver, twice after ultrasound. I was a bit surprised as I eat quite low fat anyway. Without any change to weight or diet it disappeared. A couple of years later I had an ultrasound and a fibro scan and was told it wasn’t fatty at all.

Nobody could say why. But I have read antibiotics can make it temporarily fatty which I think must have been what happened. Very strange.

Guilt is pointless. It just increases your stress, which is already raised due to your diagnosis. Banish guilt! Banish self-bashing! The first step is to forgive yourself. You ate the wrong thing - OK, it happened. You accept the consequences and commit to looking after yourself again. And every time you walk past the attractive banned food that is calling to you, you smile at yourself and think how awesome you are for looking after yourself so well.

Positive reinforcement for doing the things that help you. Forgiveness for slip-ups.

@Aparecium thank you, yes I will try and live this way.

@froufroulala I need to educate myself, the liver is not something talked about much, is it? Thank you for sharing your story.

Thank you to everyone for sharing, it really helps to hear how others feel and are tackling it. Wishing you all well.

Yes here too. Banned from caffeinated drinks as it interferes with medication. I look at glass of water and sigh.