How to Reverse Fatty Liver in Seven Months (My Fatty Liver Reversal Success Story)

I am back with some great news – especially for me, but also for those who have been diagnosed with a fatty liver and are wondering whether it can be cured or not.

I just came back from my ultrasound appointment and doctor visit and they both said that my fatty liver has improved tremendously, with the doctor saying that it’s looking “almost like a completely healthy liver”. Yay!

This proves that with some research, some additional will power and lifestyle changes here and there, your fatty liver CAN BE REVERSED.

And trust me that knowing that you can become a healthy individual once again is extremely satisfying. This article is here to give you a bit of inspiration and support based exclusively on my own experience reversing it.

UPDATE note: I initially wrote this article back in March 2015, 7 months after being diagnosed with a fatty liver. I have decided to edit it to add some relevant links, but the original text remains (mostly) unaltered.

The even better news is that in the mean time, I have completely healed my fatty liver and never switched to the old me again. So read below for my experience and hopefully that extra push you need to do it yourself too.

How did I do it? How did I reverse fatty liver in seven months?

dont give up

For those who are not regular readers of this blog, I’ll start by saying that a bit over seven months ago I have been diagnosed with a fatty liver (NAFLD).

It wasn’t very advanced (I was told it’s stage 1.5 – so not really 1, but not 2 either) but it was still a fatty liver.

I also had fat in my pancreas and fat was deposited on my kidneys, while the liver itself was enlarged. I was feeling miserable overall – tired, grumpy, bloated and much more, all apparently because of this.

Since I was close to my 30th birthday and the idea of having the fatty liver evolve into cirrhosis and maybe even worse brought me down to tears, I decided to do everything that I can to give me a chance at living a normal life again and I decided to completely change the way I eat and live and reverse my fatty liver.

I was sure that it’s possible – even though the first doctor I met told me the opposite. Glad I didn’t listen to her!

I knew that the main reason behind me being overweight and having so much fat accumulated in my body was the way I was eating, so I decided to switch to a completely healthy diet.

It was not extremely restrictive, created with moderation in mind, but one that completely eliminated some extremely dangerous foods: I stopped eating fried foods, I stopped drinking alcohol completely and also stopped touching all types of soda, I stopped adding any sugar to my food and kept the carbohydrate intake under control.

I moved to fat-free cooking even though now I am sometimes adding a bit of extra virgin olive oil to my foods but only after they are cooked and I started to notice the results immediately.

Read more about my fatty liver diet here – I strongly recommend it to everybody as it’s pretty obvious that it works!

Losing weight

I started to lose weight instantly and even though it wasn’t the easiest job in the world – I still had cravings and felt a bit hungry at times – it was all worth it.

I also allowed myself to cheat every now and then: not during the first month when I wanted to live a completely healthy life, but afterwards once in two weeks or maybe once per week I allowed myself a small piece of cake or ate a bit more than usual.

Three months later I had my first pizza (vegetarian, because I am no longer eating cold cuts, salami and such) and yesterday I drank half a glass of Coke.

Fortunately, I didn’t like it at all I don’t plan to drink any soda anytime soon. The secret is to stick to your new life plan. The new person you are building. The healthy person. The better one. Yourself 2.0.

Finally, a few months after tackling my bad eating habits, I started going to the gym – three times a week for 60 minutes of cardio exercise only. If you can do it more often, it would be even better!

be strong and never give up

The exercise itself won’t help you lose much extra weight at this point, but helps to keep you healthy and especially helps with the insulin resistance you might have developed to a lower or higher degree already due to the fatty liver and bad eating habits.

Exercising is a must do when dealing a fatty liver – and something you have to do after you get rid of it.

You don’t necessarily have to go to the gym although I believe it’s the best way since it gives you extra motivation and helps you create a schedule and stick to it. You can do exercise at home or outside.

But whatever you do, exercise! Aim for at least 30 minutes of additional workout per day.

When I don’t go to the gym, I simply go out and walk at a brisk pace for 30-60 minutes.

You can do jogging. Watch some Zumba exercises and perform them at home. Anything that keeps your body moving and increases your heart rate so you burn extra fat and become more fit.

As pills or supplements, I only took milk thistle and recently started drinking organic green tea: they might or might have not helped, but they certainly did no harm and I see no reason why you shouldn’t try to get any additional help you can.

So what were the results?

As I said, my latest ultrasound appointment went extremely well, just like my blood tests did.

I was extremely worried and pessimistic that the doctor would have bad news, but she actually congratulated me and encouraged me to share my story with everybody else suffering from a fatty liver to prove them that it can indeed be fixed.

So here I am doing just that, telling you that you can do it too! You can reverse your fatty liver!

In order to make it a lot easier for you to do that, simply go through the archives of this blog: I share here a ton of useful information about reversing your fatty liver and I am 100% certain that you have all the information you need already published on this blog.

Just go through all the articles, read the titles, see which ones seem like something you could use and read them. They’re all based on my personal experience with reversing fatty liver, as well as countless hours of research!

Back to the ultrasound, the doctor found out that my liver was now normal-sized (the left lobe was initially about 1 inch larger and the right lobe about half an inch larger), while a lot of the fat disappeared from my liver – although there was still a noticeable but slight steatosis aka fat in the liver.

You can’t completely heal years of fat accumulation in just a few months, but you can clearly improve that condition a lot and keep on working on it. That’s extremely encouraging!

Also, my pancreas had minimal fat infiltration and had also reduced its size to normal, while the fat on my kidneys was completely gone!

believe in yourself

In other words, my body recovered a lot and was on the right track to being as healthy as it was before I started to bombard it with all the extra fat and bad foods and plethora of bad choices.

And knowing that – the fact that your body can heal so quickly if you help it, is something amazing to know and extremely encouraging. Hopefully it’s the push you need to either start or keep on going.

My blood tests also looked a lot better. Even though mine were initially within the normal values, they were towards the top end and really close to being abnormal.

But now, after 7 months, my total cholesterol level was reduced by 12 points, while the high glucose levels started to look a bit better, going down almost 4 points. Everything looked better than before!

In other words, in just 7 months, my body made some incredible recovery and is on the right track to getting healthy. Apart from that amazing news, I also feel a lot better!

Having lost 36.5 pounds during this time also makes me look a lot better and makes me feel so good with myself – also giving me the strength to keep on going and lose the extra 11 pounds required for me to get to my ideal weight and hopefully stick there for as long as possible.

Just to show you the difference it makes, I will share some personal photos that I also shared on the About page. Me before and after:

This is how I looked around the time I was diagnosed
This is me now

All in all, even though it’s not the easiest thing on earth, it’s all worth it. Yes, you will miss the crap you enjoyed in the past – I sure did – but truth is that it’s not as difficult as it might seem at first.

The first 2 or 3 weeks will be brutal, but afterwards things will get better and you will no longer crave the bad things you probably will early on.

I was unhealthy, miserable, fat and a complete mess of a person – all built up over the years of poor food choices, lots of stress, no exercise and binge-drinking beer when going out with friends during the weekends.

I almost couldn’t believe it that just 7 months almost brought me back to being a completely healthy person and it proves how much our way of living matters – and gives me the power to keep on going.

Because no lifestyle change is good unless you stick to it. I used to be fat and unhealthy, now I feel amazing and I love it.

And you can do it too. Trust me, it’s a lot easier than you might think it is – so just get it done. Starting now!

Please share this article!

39 thoughts on “How to Reverse Fatty Liver in Seven Months (My Fatty Liver Reversal Success Story)”

  1. Great news. I was recently diagnosed (after gallbladder surgery with basically the same thing as you. I have not had anything greasy or red meat in a month. Mostly because everything made me sick. But with my fatty liver scare I am going to continue my clean eating. Glad to find your blog!

    Reply
  2. Because I could not find a diet for for fatty liver disease; I simply looked up each food I wanted to eat and asked if it was fatty liver friendly? If it was fatty liver friendly I could eat it. That also lead to a very scimpy diet. I lost 62 pounds. My doctor was not happy. That was too much for my age. I ended up having to use a medicine for something else that made me hungary so I gained 15 pounds back. She is happy with that. Now I need to come up with a better diet so I don’t gain more back. I also need more of a variety. I was just on here checking to see if popcorn was fatty liver friendly and surprised to find something about a fatty liver book.

    Reply
    • What I believe is that moderation is what actually is fatty liver friendly 🙂 Most foods won’t do any or much harm if consumed with moderation. Just make sure that you stick to your diet, have a varied one and you’ll be just great. It’s pretty obvious to me that you are on the right track!

      Reply
  3. I had fatty liver and lost weight. A year ago I gain so much weight. I went to my doctors and it appears it is back. I have an ultrasound next week.. I am 26, 272 pounds and scared.

    Reply
    • Unfortunately, sticking to the diet after getting rid of the fatty liver is vital and very difficult. I am sure that once you did this already, you can reverse it again and never gain that weight again. It can’t be done otherwise! Good luck!

      Reply
  4. I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease around 15 years ago. My liver enzymes were always really high. My doctor told me to eat less fat. so I did and nothing changed. Just last year I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes. I adopted a low carb-high fat diet, reversed my diabetes without drugs and completely reversed my fatty liver disease, all in 4 months. There is no longer any trace of inflammation or damage. Sometimes the best way to heal is to ignore what your doctor tells you and do your own research.

    Reply
    • Great, inspiring story, Violetta! Thanks for sharing that with us. Did you take any supplements or did something that you think mattered more or it was just the low carb diet that you followed?

      Reply
      • I also took milk thistle seeds and burdock & dandelion root infusions. In the past, when I have taken these for my fatty liver, my enzymes came down, but the fat remained in my liver.

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        • Hi Violetta,

          I need to reverse my fatty liver fast (I have the high enzymes as well). I am also trying to adopt a low-carb high fat diet. Do you mind sharing with me what you would eat daily? I just need something to compare my plan to. Did you lose weight in that period? Thank you so much!

          Reply
          • If it was high fat, low carb then it was probably beef, chicken, butter, olive oil, fish, coconut oil, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, etc and NO bread, sugar, wheat, or fruit. Look up the keto diet or the original atkins.

    • So happy for u!! Even I have recently started the keto diet and I an hoping to reverse mine too! I have lost 10 pounds till now!

      Reply
  5. I discovered this page browsing for some fat liver diet recipes and wow, amazing insights. Instantly bookmarked it.

    I was diagnosed last week with NAFL after a routine scan ; an intense health scare to me :(. I can totally see myself in your experience ( e.g normal blood tests results) so the diagnosis was a shock. I weighted about 87 kgs ( a bit overweight, ideal weight being around 80)

    Changed my diet since the diagnosis, started already to lose weight, and signed up to a gym.

    So far it’s great, feeling more energetic, can concentrate better and overall I feel good. Thanks for posting the progress and diets, it’s very motivational. I dream of my next scan ( due in 1 year) to recheck my condition. Hopefully it can be reversed.

    cheers,
    Catalin

    Reply
    • Sticking to the new way of living is the most difficult part here – but it’s your health that matters and I am sure you will. It’s actually a new style of living that you won’t want to revert away from. Good luck and I am sure your next year’s scans will be way better!

      Reply
    • Hi Catalin, It’s been a year since you posted. Have you had an ultrasound? Did you reverse your fatty liver? I was just diagnosed and we weigh the same and thought I’d get your prospective on this journey. Wishing you well!

      Dear Lynn, thank you so much for this site. I finally feel like I am reading messages from people who are going through the same nightmare! Thank you…

      Reply
  6. Hey Lynn on August 20 i started to feel a bit sick so i went to the Doctor took an Ultrasound and whole blood count. The whole blood count showed everything is normal,my doctor was quite happy about that so was i.

    Heart normal.
    Sugar levels.Normal. “Amazingly as i just three months ago i had quit sugar and soda pops cold turkey”
    Etc normal.

    So the Ultrasound results came back with something like “Impressions Fatty Liver Infiltration”
    Doctor mentioned that i was very bloated and that i had over 90 pounds close to the risk area.

    My doctor also mentioned something relating to Junk Food in the Ultrasound results? so i also got confused when he mentioned that i was bloated and my system had of Junk Food?

    But in General my two family doctors weren’t very concerned about it. They only told asked me if i had changed my diet and how many soda pops i had being drinking.

    I had started something like a low carb diet but i need energy so i am eating seafood per week and chickens sometimes.

    What do you Lynn think? how long does the reversal usual take?

    And yes i to would be sticking with this healthy diet forever. I am done with junk food and take outs.

    As i am writing this i am no longer bloated! 🙂

    Looking forward for a reply!

    Reply
    • I was bloated as well, but I was still eating bad foods when I found about it 🙂

      Regarding the reversal, I can’t really say. I guess it depends on your current health state, how severe the fatty liver is and what you eat and how much you exercise. But the important thing, in my opinion, is that if you’re following the diet and never getting back to bad habits, you WILL reverse it. I think that the fact that you’re no longer bloated is a great sign and shows that improvements have been made.

      You can still get carbs from fruits, which I recommend eating plenty of each day. Also, cut high saturated fat foods in case you didn’t (it seems that you did, but just saying this to make sure).

      Keep up with this and you’ll beat this soon!

      Reply
      • Do you believe i caught the fat liver early? whats your impression on the ultrasound? that has being making my anxiety worse though.

        Thank u so much my friend.

        I have being eating healthy everyday will continue to do so.

        Reply
      • “how severe the fatty liver is ”
        Well at least i know from what i got from my family doctors they weren’t very concerned about it.

        I am also to Young to be ill! 30 years old my friend so hoping that i am able to reverse it:)

        Also i dont have any of the end stage Symptoms. So lets pray i will able to reverse it 🙂

        By the way what are the Symptoms of a healing liver? or liver returning to normal?

        Reply
      • Hello Branco,

        It does seem that you caught it early if the blood test results were fine. I was also diagnosed when I was 30 and reversed it in the mean time – so you can definitely do so.

        Doctors make the mistake of downplaying the importance of a fatty liver, ignoring the fact that it can cause major complication and even lead to serious problems I’d rather not talk about here 🙂 It is true, it would take many years and there’s a chance it won’t evolve into something worse, but we’re too young to risk it.

        No matter what doctors say, a fatty liver is not a healthy liver – and we want to be healthy in order to be able to fully enjoy life.

        Reply
  7. I was diagnosed with mild fatty liver disease 3 years ago, and type 2 diabetes with an LDL of 172 and an A1c of 7.2. I also weighed 298. My doctor didn’t give me much hope or advice other than just saying I would need various medications to slow down the disease, but not stop it, and there was no way to reverse it. I started looking up information on the web and learned I needed to lose the weight, exercise daily, reduce the carbs, and add a few supplements like milk thistle and inulin to my diet. I take a lot of inulin. I had to slowly build up to it because my body wasn’t use to that much soluble fiber and the results were rough at first, but my body eventually adapted to it, and now I take at least 15 grams of inulin with each meal. The studies I read seemed to indicate that inulin would help to reverse it, and I think it helped a lot. My latest LDL was 76, my A1c was 5.4, and the doctor said my liver looks back to normal again. I also lost over 60 pounds.

    Reply
  8. Hi my name is Yugeshni and I was diagnosed with a fatty liver about a month ago with an ultrasound. My bloods was not as high and I had the heptitas tests done which came back negative. I am overweight and currently lost 8kg I have started eating healthy and exercise about an hour a day. I still have discomfort pains that come and go and I feel really depressed at times, how do I overcome this discomfort? I just want to be healthy and live a normal life. Please can I have your support and advise.

    Regards

    Reply
    • The disconfort will disappear, just give it a bit more time. It’s been just a month since you started eating clean and lost weight. You’re doing great, just give it a bit more time, everything will be OK!

      Reply
  9. I’m 24 years old and two months ago I was diagnosed with fatty liver and it was a total shock to me! I’m vegan, I have a two year old and I have put on a little bit of weight. I also have fat in the pancreas but the ultrasound tech said she could see my liver and pancreas perfectly. I’ve asked two doctors and one hospital doctor how bad my fatty liver was and they all said “I don’t know” one of them said “I had a patient die of fatty liver” I was completely mistreated and I felt so scared I cried, so I made an appointment with a liver specialist and they won’t be able to see me until March. I’ve been eating so healthy but I’m scared and just want to know that it’s reversable. I have health anxiety so I’m extremely scared 🙁 any advice would be great. Thank you in advance everyone!

    Reply
    • Hello Chanel,

      I am sorry to hear that you’re going through this, but as my story above proves it (and there are others on this blog who managed to reverse their fatty liver), this is indeed reversible. I too had fat in my pancreas as well, but with diet and exercise you will be able to turn this around.

      The most important things for you right now is to eat as little processed food as possible (I am mentioning this because most of the vegan food in supermarkets is highly processed), with NO added sugar (or any other thing that’s actually sugar like glucose, fructose and other “ose” things) and as low fat as possible. Start exercising regularly and you will definitely be able to reverse it.

      If you do things right, by March the liver specialist will actually see a difference!

      Reply
  10. Hi Mate, I was inspired by your blog 3 months back when I was diagonesed with Fatty liver Grade 2 (NASH). NASH was diagonosed purely by Ultrasound as liver was inflamed.

    Fast forward 3 months, after losing 18 kgs my LFTs are back to perfect range and from ultrasound they were not able to see any noticeable fat in liver. Still mild hepatomegaly persists. I was told by doctor that I am most likely cured of fatty liver and he asked me to visit him again in 3 months time to see if things are going smoothly as planned. By the way I am from India and usually our foods are rich in carbohydrates, I somehow managed my own diet and was able to reverse my condition.

    Reply
    • Diets do play an important role, and I can imagine how difficult it was for you to do this with a rice-rich diet. But things can change and you are a proof that things can be done, no matter how we used to eat. Keep it up!

      Reply
      • Thanks a ton mate, ur blog was my goto website when ever i felt down, i was like imagining this can be reversed, meanwhile i am just 33 and having fatty liver (stage 2) really hit me hard, cried @ night, that it should not lead to Cirrhosis, thanks a lot for your blog.

        Reply
  11. Hi – Having just been told I have fatty liver, found by chance when being scanned for possible kidney stones which I don’t have), I have beyond anxious and terrified. I am waiting for blood tests to see if there is any damage and what my levels are. All I could find on the internet was frightening stuff so it has been wonderful to find your blog which is so reassuring. Thank you x

    Reply
  12. Question.just diagnosed w/fatty liver disease dur to alcohol. For my bloating my stomach is drained every week and 1/2, however lately every week. Can’t seem to get to a comfortable figure. On a low sodium, low fat, gluten free, no sugar diet. However, I don’t like it at all. I am pretty much a healthy eater, but miss my cocktails. Also, all food is boring w/all restrictions. Especially which I love. Tried spices, Mrs. Dash and not working. Any suggestions?

    My next project is working out. I used to exercise, but been awhile. So, does anyone have a derailed fitness program w/specific exercises to start? Same w/a diet plan for ideas to get started. Even fir just a week or so to start.
    Thx

    Reply
  13. I just found out that I have a fatty liver. I have three questions.
    Is nutrisystem diet acceptable? I have been using nutrisystem to lose weight prior to my diagnosis.
    Is baby food ok? There a very few ingredients. (Not in large quantity…maybe the apples or strawberries)
    I have iron deficiency and I have to take an iron supplement. How detrimental is this?

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • 1. I am not familiar with nutrisystem. Tried checking them out, but apparently they are blocked in Europe.

      2. Yes, baby food is OK as long as there are no added sugars and chemicals (they shouldn’t be present in the first place, but you never know).

      3. You should continue taking any other medication that you have to take. At the same time, you might want to bring as many healthy foods that are high in iron to your diet in order to be able to stop taking those supplements sooner. But until then, do as the doctors told you and take them.

      Reply
  14. Is there anywhere on your website that explains why artificial sweeteners are not good for a fatty liver? I had stopped trying to use so much sugar in my coffee and tea several years ago, and I use artificial sweetener. I found out that I had fatty liver about 1 1/2 years ago and wanted to find out what affect the artificial sweetener might be having. I specifically use sweet n low which I know has had bad press for years, but my great-grandmother always used it and she lived to be 94 and had diabetes, so I never payed much attention to the hype.

    Reply
    • I actually recommend sugar alternatives on this blog as I use them myself. I prefer to go for those that are considered generally safe, like Stevia, Erythritol and Maltitol. I also use low amounts of raw Honey.

      Reply

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