I Managed to Reverse My Fatty Liver!

Back in September 2014, almost one month after I was diagnosed with a fatty liver, I launched this blog, convinced that I have what it takes to reverse the condition and get healthy again.

Internet is amazing and you can find a lot of help if you want to and you know what to search for: I am saying this because my gastroenterologist at the time told me that I can’t reverse fatty liver and all I can do is keep it at the current levels and hope it won’t turn into cirrhosis and/or even worse.

I will surely remember for the rest of my life that moment – it was the moment when I felt that I was going to die. Literally. I went home and started crying. This is how bad doctors can ruin your life.

So I went online. I spent days, I spent weeks learning about fatty liver, how it works and, most importantly, the great news for me: how it can be reversed.

I found a new doctor who indeed told me that I can reverse that if I follow a diet and lose weight and change my lifestyle and that’s exactly what I started doing.

And now, 1.5 years later, after my latest visit to my new doctor, I received my great news: I no longer have a fatty liver. I managed to reverse NAFLD!

I hope that everybody who suffers from this reads this article and realizes that IT IS POSSIBLE.

It can be done and the feelings that you get when you hear your doctor say: “your liver is clean, everything looks normal” is impossible to describe in words.

I managed to do it and I did it just because I wanted to. I didn’t listen to the first doctor that said I can’t cure that, I didn’t care about anything else and stayed focused on my goal: that of losing weight, eating healthy and getting rid of this fatty liver. And I did. But it wasn’t easy.

Yes, it is true that just like most of the people out there, I love to eat. I love to eat all sorts of food, food that is bad for your health, food that gives me comfort.

Before being diagnosed with a fatty liver, I didn’t eat to survive, I eat for the taste of it, I ate to feel good.

I also drank alcohol moderately, again to feel good. I couldn’t imagine going out and having fun if there was no alcohol involved: I mostly drank beer and not a lot of it because I do get drunk quickly, but I still drank. I was fat. I was obese. I didn’t care. I didn’t care because I didn’t know what that all means.

And then my NAFLD diagnose came and and my entire world changed. My entire life changed. I realized that I have a family to take care of, I have a young son (he was just 1.5 years old at the time) that I want to see grow into a fine adult, I have a life that I want to live longer.

And that was the moment when I changed everything about how I live and that was what saved me.

After reading a ton on this matter, I decided to build my own diet, based on the Mediterranean Diet: I still ate moderate amounts of cheese and other dairy products (Even though most people think that they should ban them), but I have NEVER EVER touched anything that was deep fried or very high in fat.

I reduced my intake of sugar by probably 90% and today I don’t eat sugar at all, except from the sugar that’s in the store-brought products (and I am always sure to check out the numbers and make sure that they’re low).

I am talking here about refined sugar (or brown sugar), as I am still taking a fair amount of carbs from fruits (I eat a lot of those now) and I use raw honey as a sugar substitute.

But still, everything is about 70% less sweet than what I used to eat in the past. And trust me, the food is still good.

Talking about sugar, I should say that I recently ate a chocolate cake bought from the store: it seemed so sweet that it was gross. That was my favorite chocolate before I got a fatty liver.

That was the kind of crap I was always eating and most of us do. We hit ourselves with tons of sugars and tons of fats which do nothing but please us, but take our health instead. That’s not a fair deal so please always have that in mind!

I believe that my diet was 90% of my reversing of the NAFLD. I stopped drinking alcohol completely. I did not drink, taste, take a sip of any type of alcohol for the past 1.5 years and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

Going out and having great deals of fun is still possible and it’s even better: I always have a clear head, there are no hangovers the next morning, it’s really incredibly good!

I wrote more about the diet here (linking to it again), but the basics are pretty common sense: eat everything that’s healthy, home cook your own food from real ingredients, eat less and use less fat and less sugar (ideally, no sugar at all).

I am eating a ton of vegetables, I am eating a ton of fruit and very, very small amounts of meat even though I started to eat a bit more lately (I am always careful to eat the leanest meat possible, though).

My general rule of thumb was that I am allowed to eat any type of food that’s not completely unhealthy (like fried foods) in moderation.

And I think that’s the secret: eat a bit of everything to have a great diet, but don’t eat too much fat and/or too much sugar. It’s as simple as that!

I also started going to the gym and I did it pretty irregularly, unfortunately. I try to go there three times a week, but I also had large breaks during the 1.5 years since being diagnosed.

Still, I believe that the gym helps you a lot, even though you will honestly lose most of your weight from the change of diet alone, especially if you are like me: I spend about 50-90 minutes at the gym, and that’s not a lot.

But it helps, so do it: not necessarily for losing weight, but for getting back in shape. You will feel amazing, trust me!

I lost, since I was diagnosed, about 44 pounds. I am still planning to lose 6.5 pounds more because I want to be as thin as possible and because I feel amazing in my new body.

However, these last pounds are really difficult to lose: I think I only lost 1 pound in the past couple of months. But I’m not in a hurry. I will get there, slowly and let my body accept the new lifestyle change. I will get there. You can get there too.

I did have problems adjusting to the new lifestyle and my new way of eating. The first couple of months were very difficult because food didn’t taste just as good, because I had cravings. My body was begging me to feed it sugars and fried stuff, but I said no.

I didn’t allow myself to go hungry for too long and I always had some snacks around. I didn’t want to lose it after a few weeks and risk it all – but even without going hungry I was still losing a ton of weight EACH DAY.

That’s because, even though I was eating a ton of vegetables and fruits, I was still way under the tons of calories that I was feeding my body before: hamburgers, candy, cakes, greasy and fat stuff… so you DON’T have to go hungry to reverse it! You won’t starve and trust me, after the first month or two, you will love your new way of eating.

I now look at large steaks, at French fries and I hate them. I feel sorry for the people who eat them constantly and I look around and I observe that everybody around me is overweight.

That is unhealthy – but just like I was before getting sick, the people don’t know or don’t care. The system gets our money, gets us sick and allows us to die.

But we die with the impression of happiness, because we had that great burger that packed 2,500 calories alone.

Now I look at that burger that I used to consider the yummiest thing in the world and all I can feel is disgust. That’s not food. That’s illness.

But I did cheat, don’t get me wrong! I couldn’t have made it without cheating. Not in the first few months, but I did cheat. I love pizza, so I allowed myself to eat some pizza every now and then.

But even then, I made sure to go for the one with fewer toppings and less fats (I usually go for the vegetarian one which still tastes good, especially after you get used with all the vegetables).

I did eat a couple of times at KFC. I did eat large portions at some parties, I had cookies.

I was very close of slipping away from my plan this Christmas when all the goodies and the food and the people’s mood around me was different and I gain four extra pounds during the holidays.

But I just considered this a small bump in the road. I got back on track and back to eating healthy. And I still do.

I got the great news that I managed to reverse fatty liver almost two weeks ago. I didn’t want to rush and write about it, I wanted to let it settle in a bit otherwise this article would’ve had a completely different tone.

I was excited and I believe I had all the rights to be so, but there is one very important thing to keep doing: remain the new you, even after reversing it.

Even though cured, I believe that my liver – and that goes for everybody who has this problem – now is weakened a bit.

The fatty liver can come back if we change our diets again. And I was afraid I might do that – but I didn’t. I understand the risks and I won’t do it – I no longer consider my NAFLD diet a diet, but a better way of living. I am living healthy, I am feeling a million times better, I love to look at my thin body in the mirror… why change that?

The disease was not the fatty liver. I was the disease and my body had no other way to tell me that. It told me and I listened. You can do to. And have faith – if you do, your body will react. You will reverse your fatty liver. You will get healthy again.

Maybe it will happen faster than in my case, maybe it will be slower. But you will reverse it. I did it, everybody can! NEVER forget that!

PS: If you have any questions for me or suggestions for articles that I should write, let me know in the comment section below – I want to be as helpful as possible!

Please share this article!

97 thoughts on “I Managed to Reverse My Fatty Liver!”

  1. Hi,

    I came across your diary searching for what’s healthy and what to avoid when attempting to reverse NAFLD. I struggled with an uncomfortable inflammation for 3-4 years before having a sonogram done of my liver/gallbladder region. Later, a physician stated very simply “you have a fatty liver, and you need to diet and exercise.” Since then I’ve continued to neglect the issue, which flares up from time to time. Last night, it kept me up for two hours, and I finally decided I need to try to reverse this problem naturally–before it becomes more serious. I enjoy healthy foods, and I’ve tried to make them a permanent part of my daily routine…but the fatty cravings always seem to defeat me. I admit I could’ve overcome the temptation if I tried harder.

    I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experience, and congratulations and much respect for having the will power to make it through. I wish you the best of luck in maintaining your health, but it seems like it’ll be smooth sailing from now on. 🙂

    Reply
    • Thank you so much! We need the will power in order to get healthy and be able to fully enjoy what we like. I am sure that it’s not just me who has the will power to do this, nor it is you lacking it. You just haven’t tried hard enough so far, but maybe it’s time to change!

      Reply
  2. Congratulations on reversing your fatty liver. I’ve read about supplements on this site. I was wondering if there were any that you personally were still using?

    Reply
    • Hello, Demitrius! Sorry for taking so long to reply. I have only taken Milk thistle as a supplement, but only for two or three months. I am not sure they helped and personally I believe that it’s still the diet which is the most important.

      Reply
  3. Hello! I was just recently diagnosed with enlarged/fatty liver and I am struggling with my calorie intake. I feel as if all veggies and fruits have a ton of sugar so while I am low on fat I am consuming around 37 grams of sugar and 90 grams of carbs ? How many fruits and veggies did you consume a day? I am barely hitting 900 calories which I know is wrong but I am just afraid to touch anything 🙁

    Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Hello Jessica,

      It is normal to be worried at first and keep a very strict diet. However, you should remember that extremely rapid weight loss – which is what probably happens with your daily calories intake – also puts extra pressure on your liver. So you should definitely try to up them a bit by adding something else to your diet.

      I don’t really understand from your message if you’re only eating fruits and vegetables – you can also consume fish (don’t fry it, of course) and lean meat like chicken thighs or lean pork meat (grill, boil, add to soups). I also never gave up on dairy products because I love milk, yogurt and cheese – but ate those in moderation and always went for the products with the lowest fat count (but not fat free).

      Regarding the carbs and sugars, there are two important things to consider here: the ones in fruits and vegetables can be considered the healthiest around because they are assimilated slowly, unlike the processed sugars. The human body still needs carbs to survive and a healthy person should have around 45% of the daily calories intake coming from carbs, according to US dietary guidelines. Since 1 gram of carbs has 4 calories, you’re actually a bit under the guidelines with your carbs intake. And since you get what I’d call healthy carbs – from fruits and vegetables – I wouldn’t worry too much. I personally never set real limits on veggie consumption and rarely on fruits: I had days when I ate two bananas or more per day, plus some extra fruit (apples and berries) – usually as snacks and maybe as fruits-exclusive dinner, but I also ate a bit of meat now and then, veggies and dairy products with moderation.

      So even though it’s great to go for a really strict diet, you might actually burn out soon. Add a few more things that you enjoy eating but keep them healthy, stay away from processed sugars, alcohol and very fat or fried foods and you will surely be able to reverse your fatty liver. Remember that moderation is key here and you’re aiming for a complete lifestyle change: you’re now setting the foundation for a future you and a permanent style of eating. You won’t be able to handle 900 calories per day for tens of years from now on!

      Reply
      • Hey Lynn,
        Thank you for sharing your very inspiring story. I wanted to ask,
        How many calories per day did you get by on?
        Thanks Again,
        Rob

        Reply
      • Rob, I haven’t counted calories, but I am sure that I was under 2,000. Calories don’t matter that much when you exercise a lot to burn them. You can easily stay within range with a healthy, balanced diet.

        Reply
  4. Hello Lynn,
    How are you? Hope you are fine. Congratulation. I am 27 years old, Last 1 week ago i did ultrasound and doctor say me that I have fatty liver and mildly enlarged. I am so worried and disappoint.But after your reverse fatty liver we are pleased and get hope.
    So would you please share your everyday food menu? Such as fruits, vegetable etc.

    Reply
    • Hello Alam,

      Following specific dietary guidelines is better than going for set menus – you can adapt them as you wish. I have shared on this blog a recommended diet, as well as some recipes and suggestions for breakfast, dinner, snacks and so on. Plus, I have a one week suggested menu, also published on the blog.

      Get healthy soon!

      Reply
    • Alam, habesha?
      I too was diagnosed this month, July 2018. What about you? How are you now since it’s been over a year you posted.

      Lynn, THANK YOU FOR THIS BLOG! I feel alone and scared. My doctor is so vague about my stage 2 fatty liver. I am a single mom of 2 small children, so I am so scared for them as well, that something may happen to me and they’ll have to go into care, GOD FORBID. I’m glad you’re out of the woods. But you’re right, our liver will “forgive but not forget”.

      Reply
      • I understand your feelings, as I was diagnosed a short while after my son was born. But yes, if we stick to a diet and make the required changes, we can reverse it and enjoy our families as healthy adults.

        Reply
  5. Hi Lynn,

    Thank you for the article and information, it is greatly appreciated. I do have a question though.

    I was wondering if you had liver flair ups/pain before and during the reversal? I know not everyone gets liver pains but I do. I was having no pain for a week or so and decided to go ahead and change my diet to try and reverse. Now that I am eating much healthier, I am getting some pains in the liver area (it started a few days after my start date). It’s not debilitating but I’m hoping it’s a sign of detoxing. Otherwise I’m concerned I’m not eating enough calories and stressing my liver more.

    Reply
    • Hello Jayme,

      Sorry for the late reply – I was away on vacation for a while.

      Regarding the pain, I had it before starting to do this and it slowly went away with time. It still got back every now and then, but I could definitely see an improvement pain-wise, not the other way around.

      Hopefully everything’s better by now.

      Reply
      • Hi there. Hi Thank you for sharing your story. I was diagnosed with NAFLD in June of 2020. I was terrified because the more you google things, well it can be scary.
        Like you o researched and completely changed my diet. No more high fat or sugar. If baking I substitute the sugar for much less honey or maple syrup. I had a very strict regimented diet. I basically ate the same things every day and if I was going to someone’s home for dinner and I was something no didn’t feel comfortable eating I would take my own and warm it up. I took about a year but I got my numbers back to normal and then when I was feeling my best I fell off the good eating wagon. Now I’m struggling like crazy to conquer the cravings and get back to clean eating. It’s harder this time. I know my numbers must be up because my symptoms have started again. Feeling nauseous, brain fog joints aching etc. Hopefully I can get back to where I was because when I lost all the weight I felt fabulous!!!
        Thanks wendy

        Reply
        • Indeed, the second time around seems more difficult, just as it is a lot more difficult to stick to your diet once you know you have reversed it. But we have no other option…

          Reply
  6. Hello
    My blood test showed 68 on liver enzymes and I have been told that I have a fatty liver I took a new tour to the grocery store and found lots of low-fat things how many grams of fat and how many grams of carb and how many calories did you intake? Your article gives me hope I am overweight and I am hopeful thought losing weight and correcting my eating habits will help thank you for all of your hopeful post.

    Reply
    • Hello Lacey,

      You should do some research on this – I have a guide on the diet to follow. Most people say that in terms of fat, anything over 20 is high and the lower, the better. Anything with added sugars should be avoided too – but with carbs it’s a bit more difficult since grains and fruits and even vegetables have high carb counts which are not necessarily bad. So just look for added sugar (and all the terms for masking it like fructose syrup, corn starch, corn syrup etc). I didn’t count calories – if you reduce portion sizes and eat healthy you don’t have to worry about calories too much as they will surely be low.

      Good luck with this! You can reverse it!

      Reply
  7. Hi,

    I was curious what your alt and ast scores were and if you had any other tests done such as ultrasound, fibroscan, or biopsy? I know there are various levels of fatty liver disease and was curious if you knew what stage yours was at.

    Reply
    • Hello Steve,

      I don’t remember the values, but they were strangely within the limits (towards the top margin, but still not above). Regarding my fatty liver stage, it was kind of funny as the doctor said “It’s not really stage 2, but not stage 1 either, so we’ll call it a stage 1.5” 🙂

      Reply
  8. I got diagnosed with fatty liver a few weeks ago. They didn’t say the stage but said there was no inflammation and my liver enzymes and liver blood work has been excellent every time I have had it checked over the past 3 years. I’m not overweight I’ve been a healthy eater and excercsie and have been doing this for 4 years? How do I reverse it if I do not need to lose weight and already eat a healthy Low carb, low sugar diet? I will add I have been pregnant or breastfeeding over the past 6 years and wonder since my body never had a break from nurturing and taking care of my babies it made me malnourished and affecting my liver?

    Reply
    • Hello Miranda,

      Sorry to hear about that. It’s really strange that this is happening, indeed, especially if you’re eating healthy and exercising. However, I doubt that being pregnant and breastfeeding influenced your health negatively.

      Are you taking any medicine? Most medicine can have a negative effect over the liver, and that could be the cause. Also, you should talk to a dietician and see if the healthy diet is indeed healthy. Some foods that are store bought can still be unhealthy – high in added sugars or saturated fats. Most store-brought pre-mixes for food, prepared food, cereal and so on are actually unhealthy.

      Reply
  9. Hi, I am interested in your take on protein and how much you eat and from what foods.

    Thanks for your blog. I’ve found it very useful.

    Christine

    Reply
  10. Congratulations on your fatty liver reversal, Lynn. I’m diagnosed with Grade 2 fatty liver and enlarged liver. I’m diabetic too and doctors said it’s because of my malfunctioning liver . I have a basketball sized tummy due to the enlarged liver . I’m a complete vegetarian . Your blog is inspiring . I’m planning to follow your foot steps . Thanks

    Reply
  11. Thanks a million for your info and greatly excited about reversal of fatty liver. ACtually been diagnosed with fatty liver . I was shocked once I knew . I was depressed of having that . I have high cholesterol levels and triglycerides number to force me to have Lipitor.
    I got many side effects of Lipitor and still take it and I am on diet no sugar, no carbohydrates, no saturated fat, no fried food,yes to exercise but with no showing off any weight loss. My metabolism is zero and I am in menopause in the early of 41 . Now I would like to ask you after you reverse your fatty liver are you gonna continue living with the same diet or not? Should I continue mylife with that kind of diet?
    I love bread, this is my weak point. But now I am trying to stay away from it. Another question how should I know where my body deposit these fat in urine ?
    Thanks for your time

    Reply
    • Sara, unfortunately (or fortunately if you’re thinking about all the benefits), you will have to stick to this diet more or less for your entire life. A reversed fatty liver will come back if you will get back to old eating habits.

      Reply
    • I was diagnosed with fatty liver. 51 years old. My Mother died of liver failure. Trying to cut all fats/sugars as much as possible. My question is that my Ferritin came back at 125. Do you think this is regular fatty liver or irreversible NASH? Very scared.

      Reply
    • Kelly, I unfortunately can’t say that and it’s a liver specialist or at least a trained doctor who will be able to answer your question.

      But from what I know, it’s higher values that are associated with NASH or more severe fatty liver. I am confident that what you have is a reversible fatty liver.

      Reply
  12. Lynn, i’m so thankful to God people like you decide to take their time to write things like this article that can change so drasticly people’s lifes. God bless your heart.
    I been having liquid retention in my feet, ankle and legs underneath the knees over the last 4 months, didnt think to much of it as I work long hours sittong down amd thought I could just drink more water and liftimg my legs would help but it didnt, i’ve started to do the Mediterranean Diet as you suggested about 2 weeks ago and moderate exercise at least 20 mins every day…I was diagnosed with Fatty Liver and I was wondering if you had liquid retention in this areas too when you was diagnosed?

    Reply
    • Priscilla, I am really sorry for the late reply.

      I didn’t have liquid retention problems when I was diagnosed. I am happy that you’re following the recommended diet and I hope that you’re already starting to see and feel improvements to your condition and overall well being.

      Reply
  13. Actually I wanna update my case to you all . I lately discovered of having Lipitor made me under severe symptoms one of those is fatty liver. So mad about that , it is really not supposed to prescribe it to any case for its horrible side effects.
    This medication can play on everywhere in your system can’t imagine that would happen to me. I cut off taking it and I feel of much improvement … believe me … I cut off all carbohydrates and fried food and following health snacks and I am gonna see a liver dr soon wish me the best.

    Reply
    • Thank you for the update, Sara. And sorry for the late reply!

      It is true that some medicine really harm our livers… but it is good that you could stop taking what caused you these side effects. Hopefully you’ll get great results from your liver doctor – it seems that you followed a good diet and I am sure things will look much better.

      Reply
    • It really depends what medicine we’re talking about. There are pills that you must take for other conditions that you shouldn’t stop taking because it’s a risk vs. reward kind of thing. But stuff like supplements… they will not necessarily make you feel bad, but probably you could do without them

      Reply
  14. I have also Fatty liver for being overweight and Heavy drinker, i was diagnosed last August 2017 with fatty liver and Alt is 225/69, 1 month of NO alcohol, less sugar, NO pork or Beef and lots of vegetables my Alt drops to 68/69 and continuing my lifestyle to now (May 2018) my ALT is 36/69 but i still have mild fatty liver. Hope i can reverse it like you did.

    Reply
  15. I have got fatty liver, and i think i got it because of rapid weight loss , now if i dont eat i get pain in my liver area and i think it means my liver dont like excess of fat because of dieting , i want to be cured but iam scared that weight loss will cause more fat in the liver, iam confused what to do?

    Reply
    • What do you mean by rapid weight loss? How much are we talking per week? There are voices that claim that a fatty liver can indeed be caused by rapid weight loss, but I lost up to 1.5 kilograms per week (especially early on) and got rid of it, not made it worse.

      Reply
  16. I was diagnosed with Nash in December 2017. Liver enzymes were normal but showed up on ultrasound. Doctor said I will always have it but it shouldn’t affect life expectancy. I was devastated but saw a naturopath and he said I could definately reverse it back to normal. He said to cut out all highly refined sugars like fructose/glucose, high fructose corn syrop, alcohol etc. I was drinking a coke a day plus beer binging on weekends. Diet not so great either. Lots of foot long subs and processed foods. I was 6/1 232 and through lifestyle lost 50 pounds in 6 months. Now I’m 180 and feel much better overall. I was so bloated and lethargic before. I’ve been working out hard using Hiit training 4-5 days a week since diagnosis and that plus diet has been huge. I still get mild aches around liver area but they are much more surpressed than before, and not as frequent. I’m due for another ultrasound in the next few weeks and am nervous but think I am on the right track. Its only been 6 months for me so I just tell myself to be patient as it could take a year or 2 from what I’ve heard. Thanks for your blog, it has really helped give us all hope.

    Reply
    • Kyle,

      You’ve done really good so far. I personally believe that your weight is good right now – you can go further down just a few more pounds or keep it as it is. I am sure that your fatty liver has improved a lot too. It usually takes a bit more to get back in shape and get rid of the pain, but you will get there. You made amazing progress in these 6 months!

      Now just keep thinking how hard it was to get here and don’t return to old habits. The fatty liver will return as well!

      Reply
  17. Hey Lynn I have a question for you .. I really feel that I have pimples under my belly skin is that the fat which acciumilated in the liver or just fat of my belly?
    Do anybody has a his thing? If you google the world fatty liver you will see the image of fat like pimples or spots on the liver…to what extant it is real true of the fatty liver?

    Reply
    • Hello Sara,

      I am sure you feel these just because you know of them. It is, however, the fat on your belly and not the fat on your liver – if it was only the liver, the would only be on the right side, but if you check you will see that they’re on the left as well.

      Reply
  18. I was recently told bye my.dr.i have a fatty liver bye a st scan I’m 200 pds .I’ve done all the wrong things as far as drinking and eating .eating like I’ve read how long can it take to reverse this ?I would like to drop at least 60 pds.eating healthy .

    Reply
  19. I am just following up from my June 5th post. I have just received news my latest ultrasound was completely clear from not only all the fat on the liver but also the much more dangerous inflamation etc associated with Nash. He said he had never seen or heard of anyone reversing this stage of it, especially in only 6 months. I was originally told that with lifestyle changes it can hopefully be managed so it doesn’t take a turn for the worse. What worked for me was i lost over 20% of my body weight to a normal BMI and did high intensity interval training about 5 days a week, cut out basically all sugar, alcohol and most treats except dark chocolate. Ate lots of fruit/veggies/whole grains. I still had red meat, not much fish at all, but took daily vitamins plus Alpha Lipoic acid, N-Acetylcysteine, milk thistle and a probiotic. A naturopath and a nutritionist set the course for lifestyle modifications and supplements and that helped a great deal.

    Good luck to all, you can do it and will feel great. Train hard, get in shape, clean up your diet and you will have success!

    Reply
  20. I will further add that I ate chicken quite a bit, hard boiled eggs, sprouted whole grain bread. The real key I was told from my naturopath is its not the fats that make us fat, its the sugar. Bacon etc, maybe its fine. I had a bit of fatty foods but not much. But I completely cut out refined sugars, pop, dressings, bbq sauce. No cookies, chips anything bad I basically stayed away from it. Also zero alcohol. Not a sip in 7 months. I had a headache for 4 days straight in December when I cut out sugar cold turkey and it felt like I was going to die. I haven’t had one since. Stay the course and if you give your body a chance to heal, it can do amazing things. Be well.

    Reply
    • Congrats, Kyle! That is indeed an achievement and hopefully more people will follow your example to reverse their fatty liver.

      Reply
  21. I was just recently diagnosed with fatty liver and also just changed my diet from carbs, carbs, carbs and more carbs. I found that my liver also has pains now after starting my diet. Is this normal? I was also wondering if anyone else went through a phase of feeling fatigue and sleepy throughout the day. And if yes, how long did it take before you started to get your energy back on track?

    Great blog by the way

    Thanks

    Reply
    • There are many people who experience what you describe here. The pain is usually located in the right side of the abdomen and the fatigue can be either because of the fatty liver itself – or if you’ve been cutting sugars, a result of that. It takes some time for the body to adjust and heal.

      Reply
  22. I have fatty liver but if iam doing the right thing dieting and clean eating i get pain but if i eat junk food the pain goes away does pain in the liver with dieting means it is getting wores or getting better?

    Reply
    • Healing is a long term process, so you should stay away from junk food even if it seems that the pain goes away. Most likely, the pain you are talking about is caused by the liver being enlarged and pressing on other organs, as the liver itself does not hurt. It takes time for it to get back to its regular size and eating junk food definitely doesn’t help.

      If you really believe that some of the foods that you might be eating are causing pain (which could be the case if you have IBS, for example), you should try to eliminate a food type, see if the pain goes away and find if there is any of the healthy foods that you eat causing trouble. Usually, something like a specific type of fresh vegetable might cause this.

      Reply
  23. Diagnosed with F1 fibrosis a few weeks ago, but have had a fatty liver for a few years. Didn’t take care of it, hence the F1 fibrosis. Doc says since it is in the early stages it is still reversible. I am so confused about my diet. I have lost about 12 lbs in the 6 weeks since my diagnosis. Stopped alcohol at the same time. I have been eating a low fat diet and trying to manage sodium and carb intake. I have had a cheat meal once a week since then and hoping that is ok.

    Reply
  24. I have been recently diagnosed with NAFLD. This article was the best thing to read, it was a good pick me up but I also feel it’s rare for a liver to reverse itself.
    I’m going to follow the Mediterranean diet and quit smoking and see if that makes a change.

    Thanks again for this beautiful read.

    Reply
  25. Finally, after weeks of researching I have finally found this page! I’m looking forward to the upcoming changes in my life being made because of now having a fatty liver. Hey, at least we all know what’s going on and how to fix it, right? – I just wanted to point out that my AST/ALT scores have been dropping in just a matter of weeks. Of course it will take more time based on each individual, but to see numbers drop in just weeks makes me feel even more confident that I can do this…. WE CAN DO THIS! – I was visiting Colorado and ended up in the ER due to a very bad side pain. Funny, they never figured it out. But they did blood work and mentioned my high liver enzymes. Took me a month to get a doctor’s appointment at home and within that month my AST went from 175 to 85 and ALT went from 304 to 280. Progress is progress! And what diet I was abiding by was called “the gut cleanse” (branch off of the ‘Clean Program’). It’s good stuff! Now after heavy research I am on the “Mediterranean Diet” train. My mind set::: if I took years of treating my body like garbage and not putting it first – the absolute LEAST I can do is take these next months, years to make up for it. Sorry for writing so much – but if you read this and want support let’s make it happen. 🙂 —

    Reply
  26. Hi Lynn. Well done. It was inspiring to read your story and the success you have had. I have always known that I was doing the wrong thing with my lifestyle but kept going anyway, even though I feel awful, look awful and could die soon…age being 63 now. I had an ultrasound of my abdomen looking at my gall bladder as I thought I had stones and it picked them up…as well as a fatty liver! Now, thats the best thing to happen to me because I am taking action due to the seriousness of the situation. I have cut out all sugars and processed foods, eating only whole food. I gave up alcohol years ago so thats no problem. I have yet to start the exercise but will soon..its only been a week since the scan.
    I feel confident that I can beat this and turn my life around for the last years that I have left. I think they are going to be the most healthy I have been for some time.

    Reply
  27. Lynn,
    Really nice to read your story. I am so happy that you were able to reverse it. I myself was diagnose with ‘Hepatic Steatosis’ on October 19th for right side lower rib discomfort. All my doctor told me was to restrict eating at night. My Liver enzymes were alt=58 & ast=34. I did googgling around and immediately went on low fat low carb diet. Basically i was consuming 1200 Calories a day with loosing 400 calories due to strnegth workout and cardio.
    I am 173 from 205 in 2.5 months. Do you mind if you just did the ultrasound for finding the fatty liver or your liver enzymes were elevated also ?. What did the radiologist stated in the ultrasound report ?
    Here is my menu for all day for the past 2.5 months :-

    1)0.5 cup oatmeal with blackberries, blueberries, rasberries & medium banana
    2) Workout 60 min
    3) Post workout drink unsweetened protein shake
    4) Lunch: Marinated chicken with home spices, plate of mixed vegetables (brocolli, broussel sprouts, carrots, white raddish and mushrooms), very light brown rice
    5) Snack: Drink fresh fruits / veegtable juice 1 cup
    6) Dinner: Replace chicken with Wild Salmon and same vegetables but with no rice. Sometime use quinoa.
    7) Protein shake with .5 cup of nuts

    Anything else you want to add to my menu Lynn ? As of december 5th, my Alt=35 and AST=30. In october my LDL=180 & HDL=33 & Trig=93 so i am waiting for another 28 days where i will repeat all my test.

    I also want to mention that my right pain has subsided but the rib is swollen. Not sure if it;s because of liver or may be i caused any truama. Did you also had some discomfort under the right rib ?. The radiologist did not mentioned anythibg about enlarged liver just plain simple fatty liver so not sure why i was having discomfort earlier. Anyhow now it is much better but still i have an extra roll of fat where the liver is when i sit down and my right lower rib is swollen. Did you experience anything like this ?

    Reply
  28. Thanks for your article.
    I was diagnosed with a fatty liver, I am 172m tall and weigh 62 kg. I want to put on some weight.
    I would like to know your opinion if protein powder with adequate activity can be taken during fatty liver? I have been using BSN True Mass 1200. I fear the sugar content in my protein poweder may worsen the situation.
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Hello Simon,

      I don’t think that it would be wise to add weight at this point, if you have fatty liver. Your weight is considered normal, so it’s probably the diet or medication that caused the fatty liver. I think it would be safest to get rid of the fatty liver first before adding extra weight.

      I believe that the extra weight you are talking about is actually muscle mass, in which case the exercise should help. But I would not take any supplements or bring more chemicals to the body, since they would feed the fatty liver. Work on a diet first, reverse your fatty liver and slowly work to put on more mass if you really think that is what you need.

      Reply
  29. recently got diagnosed with this, along with gallstone problems. anyways, do you happen to have a list anywhere that could help out? i’m seriously trying to change my lifestyle. i’m way too young to be dying from these issues…

    Reply
    • Hello Rian,

      There are a lot of articles published on this website that should be really helpful. You can check out the articles in the sidebar as they are recommended to start with (scroll all the way to the bottom if you’re on mobile) or simply browse through the archives. You will find heaps of useful articles to help you reverse this. And you can reverse it!

      Reply
  30. Hi Lynn,
    Did you ever got a Fibroscan done or had RUQ pain ? Can you please share your Ultrasound and lab results ? Appreciate it

    Reply
  31. Hi Lynn,
    I am in the process of being worked up for fatty liver disease. My liver enzymes are only slightly elevated, so not totally sure that’s what it is, but my doctor wants to rule it out. I do eat healthy, but need to lose about 15 lbs.
    My question is, I do love bread. I can do without the pasta and potatoes. But, in regards to bread for like sandwiches, is there a better one than others?
    So glad you have this blog!

    Reply
    • Sharon, if you really can’t do without bread, go for bread made out of whole wheats and without added chemicals or sugar. This is difficult to find in many locations over the world, but bread should only have a few ingredients (flour, water, salt and or yeast). Seeds are fine as well, just make sure there are no sugars and try to eat as little as possible.

      Reply
  32. congratulations Lynn,I was diagnosed with a fatty liver and had a fibroscan done and have grade 3 fatty liver and zero fibrosis.My liver is slightly enlarged also. I was a hundred pounds overweight and I’ve lost 55 pounds in 6 months and cut down my sugar,also taking supplements.I too feel discomfort in my liver once in a while.I was wondering what test was used to diagnose your liver?Im very scared but determined to loose the rest of the weight and never abuse my liver again! Thank you for your story!

    Reply
    • Great progress, Merri! I am sure your liver looks and feels a lot better now than it was 6 months ago. You’re definitely on the right track!

      In order to diagnose it, an ultrasound was the main way to go, but they also did a blood test (I always forget its name) which is accepted as a replacement for a liver biopsy (and obviously less intrusive). That’s a really expensive test, but I live in Europe where things are cheaper than in the US.

      Reply
  33. Hey Lynn, I want to ask, whether or not you were obese when it was diagnosed? I’m just 20, and also my BMI is well within normal range, despite that doctor has told me that I have a fatty liver by looking at my ultrasound. What would you say it to that?

    Reply
    • Yes, I was well overweight when diagnosed. However, there are many fit people who have it. In your case, it’s a bit more difficult to say why you got it, but it could be anything from genetics to unhealthy eating habits (even if you are not overweight – lots of carbs and fats are bad no matter what), medication or other health problems.

      You should discuss with your doctor what should be done next and how to try to reverse it. If you’re not already doing this, eating healthy and exercising a lot is the thing that you should do, even if your BMI is normal. You probably don’t have to lose weight, just eat clean food and exercise.

      Reply
  34. just wondering if you, or anyone reading, had pain on the LEFT side? i went to a GI with pain on the left and he started with an upper endo and said i had gastroenteritis. the pain persists on the left. i went back. got an abdominal ultrasound and found the fatty liver and an enlarged spleen. like many doctors in the US mine was vague. i have blood work still to be done, can’t afford it right now, but i’m trying to change my diet and exercise in the meantime. point being, i haven’t seen anyone mention pain on the left, but i’m gathering the pain is from the enlarged spleen and the enlarged spleen is from the fatty liver? thoughts anyone?
    ps like some other posters i too am sort of scared to eat now. i would gather that if drastic diet change can cause some additional temporary pain in the liver, it might transfer to the spleen just like the pain from the fatty liver itself seems to?

    Reply
    • Ashley, I unfortunately don’t really know what to say here.

      It could also be some sort of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) – I had this together with my fatty liver and got rid of both when eating healthy and reversing the latter. However, I don’t know what to say about the enlarged spleen since mine was fine. Could be from the fatty liver – I don’t know.

      However, eating healthy will definitely help. You shouldn’t starve yourself: you still need to food for your body to function as it should. If you stop eating, you will only force your body to go through even more stress, which it doesn’t need.

      Instead, eat healthy (fruits and vegetables mostly), try to get more active and at least walk a lot. Try to see if there are foods that make things worse and stop eating those at least for a while.

      Finally, look into IBS and see if that might be what’s causing your left side pain. Either way, eating healthy definitely helps and you should see improvements (not a complete disappearance of the problems) in a couple of weeks.

      Reply
  35. Lynn,

    Thank you for publishing this site. I will use it as a guide to hopefully reverse my fatty liver. I was diagnosed with a fatty liver in 2017 but my doctor provided no suggestions on how to reverse it. She only said that I have it from years of bad eating habits. As an Italian man, pasta, pizza, sausage, and meatballs were a staple at the dinner table so it has been difficult to change old eating habits. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 and had that taken care of. I was also diagnosed with an enlarged spleen and two enlarged lymph nodes. Had a biopsy done which was negative for cancer but my doctor diagnosed it as sarcoidosis which is a centuries-old autoimmune disease with no cure and no known origin. This year I was also diagnosed with a non-specific abnormality on my pancreas so I am now taking charge of my diet and I just hope it is not too late. I’ve cut out beef, wheat, gluten, and dairy and replaced them with wild caught fish, organic fruits, organic veggies, almond milk, organic green tea, and plenty of water. I’ve also upped my exercise regime from 1-2 days a week to 5 days. My BMI is 30.5 and I could stand to lose 15 pounds so I feel that I am almost there. I feel that the prostate cancer, fatty liver, enlarged spleen and lymph nodes, and non-specific abnormality on my pancreas are all related to diet. The fact is that we know we should eat healthier but our society emphasizes unhealthy choices at the grocery stores and at restaurants. It is up to us and us alone to empower ourselves to reject this false narrative forced upon us by the food industry.

    Reply
    • Thank you for your message, Felix! Sorry to hear about all your problems, but you seem to be on track. Stick to the diet and changing your lifestyle and I am sure things will get better sooner rather than later!

      Reply
  36. Excellent article! Thank you so much for writing this! I am 26, with End-Stage Renal Disease and on Peritoneal Dialysis. I have also just been diagnosed with a Fatty Liver. My G.I. Doctor said that I just need to eat more fruits and vegetables. I have done that but I do get cravings every now and again. I do have some questions for you, if you do not mind.

    1. Is it true that green tea and coffee is good for helping cure the liver/
    2. What was your work out regimen? How many times a week and for how long?
    3. What kind of salad dressings did you eat? I enjoy salads but I like ranch and sometimes honey mustard. Do you have a recommended brand or type?
    4. I am trying to lose weight but I have plateaued at 170 lbs. Any suggestions on how to keep losing weight without making my fatty liver worse?

    Thank you, again for writing this blog. I love it and you are such great support. I am looking forward to the day that my G.I. Doctor tells me my liver is no longer a fatty one.

    Reply
    • Hello Sarah! I answered most of these questions in previous articles, so take some time to read through them as you might find even more useful information.

      1. That’s what I heard as well. It doesn’t seem to hurt, so no reason not to drink these.
      2. At least 3 times per week – going to the gym for cardio (treadmill): 45 minutes of running, about 7 kilometers per session.
      3. Just plain home made mixes: extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar. You can mix these in a glass with a bit of water and a teaspoon of mustard too – delicious!
      4. If the 170lbs are not your ideal weight, the only thing you need is to get calories deficit in your diet: either by reducing the amount of food/calories you eat, or by doing more exercise.

      Good luck with this!

      Reply
  37. Hi! Thank you for this article…when you say to not have fats – does that also include healthy fats? Avocados, olive oil…etc.?

    Reply
    • I tired to keep the amount of fats to a minimum, even the healthy ones. I have later on added more healthy fats to the diet though as I realized that it’s actually the sugar that does a lot more harm than actual fats. And since it’s difficult to have food that have no fats / no carbs, you should opt for the former.

      Reply
  38. Hello! Congrat’s on repairing your liver!

    I usually use the Firefox browser but started my search to heal my liver (damaged by too much ‘cinnamon’ (no one can veirfy whay KIND of cinnamon at grocery store) — yup, plain ol’ regular store-baought cinnamon – in three choclatemilk coffe cinnamon drinks per day… as a luxury to rewad mmyself,,,,,,,, damn,,,,,,,,,,,, turns out a teaspoon or so per day for 130lb person (I’ll let you verify your own soources – it was a fairly easy search for me once it occured to me to look for it) is enough to bugger one’s liver 🙁

    hooboy yer font sure is tiny………

    Now — Firefox is notorious (but not as bad as Microsoft products) for selling data – such as to Insurance Companies (again, I’ll let you do your own verification search so as not to be accused of “leading you” — pnpe famous story is a credit card VP was interviewed and told reporter/journalist that he refused to buy fastfood on his card, because the cc info was sold to insurance copmanies and if they knew he ate fasatfoods they’d raise his rates = verified stpry)

    So – I first used TOR browser and got the following error mssg:

    Error 1020 Ray ID: (removed for my privacy)
    Access denied
    What happened?

    This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.
    ================

    I am writing this in the EPIC browser and consider myself lucky it worked on your site.

    Please consider allowing TOR browser access to your site too 🙂

    Thank you,

    signed:
    nursing my cinnamon poisoned liver, dammit…

    Reply
    • I am sorry to hear about your liver-related problems. I did write an article about how bad cinnamon can be – sorry you had to find out this way.

      Regarding the Tor browser, I am not tech-savvy at all but I do know that my hosting company enabled some protection services for the website which might include this. I am sorry to see that genuine users are affecteed by this. I will have a chat with them and see if there’s anything that can be done. Stay healthy until then!

      Reply
  39. Hi, thanks for the article!

    I would like to share my story. I’m 23 yo male diagnosed with NAFLD this spring. I cut all sugar and trying to limit carbs intake. I don’t drink (and never did) alcohol so this is not a problem. My ALT/AST levels were 153/43 in April and now (August) they are 69/25. I drink coffee every morning and sometimes green tea. Unfortunately, I can’t go with Keto diet as my gallbladder sometimes acting up…

    I see some people say that they have pain in their right upper abdomen, I have it too, but this is caused by my gallbladder. So it may be a good idea to check it as well as you may have excessive bile in it or biliary dyskinesia.

    Reply
    • Yes, definitely, good point. A visit to the doctor is mandatory when you get the symptoms. In my case, they also initially believed that it was the gallbladder that caused the problems – but it was not.

      Reply
  40. Since corn is one veggie to stay away from, is cornstarch listed in some foods a no no as well? Thank you for all your great tips and taking the time answer everyone’s questions.

    Reply
  41. Do you avoid all fats or just trans & saturated fats?

    I’ve been doing the calorie restriction, carb & sugar avoidance, etc… But I’ve only been avoiding trans and saturated fats while embracing mono & poly unsaturated fats (nuts, olive oil, fish).

    I’ve had very good success bringing my weight down 60 lbs in 5 months, and getting my triglycerides, ALT, & AST all in the normal levels. What I don’t know is if the MRI & Elastography will show actual improvement when it is done in 6 months.

    Reply
    • I personally tried to avoid all types of fats, but your approach is really good and I see no reason for you to change it. Keep it up and I’m sure your next visit to the doctor will come with good news.

      Reply

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