Fatty liver.. advice please

[fedupmum2023]

Hey everyone, i recently had an ultrasound to see if my gallbladder was an issue but turns out its my liver, i had symptoms of right upper quadrant pain near my ribs, shoulder pain, nausea, gnawing stomach pain, also stools are very up and down.. my liver is normal in size and shows a smooth outer line but returns a bright echo signal, the doctor is calling me next week to discuss so i’m assuming its not a medical emergency but its really a post to ask if anyone else is experiencing this and what changes did you make to your diet? To be honest i feel abit deflated because i lost 4 stone from july 2024 to december 2024 then fell off the wagon and my symptoms just ramped up and here we are.. i am determined to make a change as i don’t want it to get any worse so yes diet ideas please lol what changes did you make and did you take any supplements or teas to help? Also exercise is good cor it i heard and i hate exercise lmao Thanks for reading :)

Just for context i do not drink alcohol, i used to probably about 3 times a year or less if that! I also never had problems when i was 4 stone heavier, i believe maybe being pregnant could have had an effect maybe? X

How much do you weigh now? Losing 4 stone is great but if you were 30 stones to begin with it still matters.

what do you usually eat in a day?

the best ‘diets’ are adaptions to what you usually eat or you won’t stick to it.

I'm sure some may disagree with this but it's not fat in particular that causes nafld, it can be processed carbs and sugar, in particular processed sugars like high fructose corn syrup. I keto and suggested it to my friend who was struggling to improve her nafld with a low calorie, low fat diet because it's the default NHS suggested diet. She's had seen improvements since starting 6 months ago.

I'm just adding this in case you find a conventional 'healthy' diet doesn't work. In any case. Reducing processed food of all kinds and increasing intake of fibrous veggies are pretty universal good healthy advice so certainly do this. Fruit is full of sugar so I tend to reduce intake in favour of vegetable for a better national load.

Hello, i was just over 20 stone but now 16 stone 11lbs! I have fell off the diet wagon and back up a stone but determined to get back on it now after this!

I was on a calorie deficit before and i was still eating what i wanted but just cut down! So still processed stuff, carbs, sugar etc! I have been looking into keto actually! Just unsure where to start lol and i prefer veg over fruits anyway, although i do like kiwis and strawberries at the minute lol i will keep doing my research! Thankyou :)

As above, a carb heavy diet can lead to fatty liver even when there is no excessive alcohol intake.
If you want to have a very straightforward intro to keto, take a look at Eric Westman on youtube. And if you want an exhaustive in depth read, take a look at The Case for Keto, by Gary Taubes.
Best of luck.

to the extent you can go whole food plant based. It’ll strip the fat out (of liver and any arterial etc clogging)

See what your GP thinks about giving you Mounjaro. It’s great for reversing NAFLD.

Thankyou! I will definitely check it out :)

To be honest meat isn’t something i will actively seek out so plant based could be an idea! I probably will limit my meat intake, i only really like chicken but even then it can be an iffy! Red meat im not too bothered by at all, can go without, thankyou

I will do! I saw another post on here about it being good and also good for ‘food noise’ which i do struggle with, i don’t drink or smoke so food has always been a comfort to me

Another vote for keto to fix all of this

I wouldn’t recommend the plant based one though unless you are ethically fixed on no meat….its really hard to get it working plant based

Diet Doctor website has good info and plans

www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/guides/fatty-liver-disease

Hi OP, I’m diabetic but totally in remission.

I started this with a 12 week meal replacement t of 800 cals a day. The first two weeks were all about stripping fat from the liver and pancreas.

It may be that IF is the way to go for you. This jeans you can eat a relatively normal diet (I have to really watch my carb intake) but reduce the eating window.

i tend not to eat after 6pm and don’t break the fast until after 9am, on some days I can leave it until midday but most days it’s between 9-11am,

strawberries are fine on keto in small amounts as are blackberries and raspberries.

Keto is a funny thing you can't do half and half you have to go for it or not. The nature of ketosis means that you will feel dreadful if you keep starting and stopping. The first week IS quite hard but then it gets easier and you feel great. There is a low carb bootcamp on mumsnet which is excellent, usually there is one starting this time of year.

If you want to give it a go I suggest you strictly meal plan for two weeks include snacks and see how you feel at that point

Food ideas - breakfast, natural yogurt with strawberried and almonds, 2 eggs scrampled with butter, cheese, tomato and and ham ommlette.

Lunch, keto soup, bacon and veg, cream of chicken, mushroom, no bread. OR salad with protein, eggs, cheese or meat.

DInner - Sirfry veg with chicken cooked in garlic and soy sauce
Creamy chicken wrapped in bacon and garlic, cream and mushroom sauce.
Salmon cooked in butter and garlic with green beans
Sausages (black farmer are good for keto) with mediteranian veg pan fried with tomato and parmesan. etc etc.

Snacks, - boiled egg, 2 squares of dark choclate, a tablespoon of peabut butter, babybel, cucumber sticks.

If you want to start slower, just cut out the big four. bread, rice, pasta and potato. and anything sweet/processed.

You probably know this, but non alcoholic fatty liver disease is something you will have a genetic susceptibility to.

It is also linked to thyroid problems, have you been checked for these?

I would add that while keto is great for many people it is not a great long term option if you do have hypothyroidism.

Thankyou! I will definitely look into keto..

Hi thankyou for your comment i will definitely look into that 12 week replacement, when i last did my diet i stopped eating at 5 and broke fast at about 7am.. hopefully i can reverse it stuff like this scares me

Oo this is fantastic thankyou for commenting! Im writing all this down x

Hi, yes i had my thyroid tested last year and everything was fine and yes i have been told fatty liver can be genetic, i was also told everyone pretty much has a fatty liver but will never know! Its only when you get symptoms its starting to become a problem, My mum is pretty active slim woman who eats well and she has heart problems! Just unfortunate really when you are predisposed to things like this

I had this and was a couple of stones overweight. It came up because tests were done and one of my liver enzymes had ramped up. The cause is Paget's Disease, however, the fatty liver got flagged.

I cut out all:

Refined carbs
Sugar
Alcohol
Processed food (including ham/bacon)
Ready made food
Butter (bad fats)
Wheat

Reduced:
Red meat

Increased:
Fruit, veg, pulses, fish, chicken

I felt better within weeks (eczema cleared up, aches and pains disappeared, swollen ankles disappeared, dandruff disappeared, I lost 2.5 stones).

Good luck.