Few people can envision life without coffee, but is it one of the things that you have to give up after being diagnosed with fatty liver disease? We’re going to talk about it in today’s article and fully answer the question: Is coffee good for fatty liver or not?
The quick answer is: Yes, coffee is actually beneficial for people with fatty liver disease. It helps reduce inflammation and fat accumulation, as long as you drink it plain or with minimal, healthy additions (so no sugars, creamers and artificial flavors).
Since it’s MASLD (metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease) we’re talking about, it’s better to read the full story than just the quick answer, as there are many nuances to keep in mind.
How Coffee Helps the Liver
There’s a lot of science backing coffee’s benefits for your liver, whether it’s healthy or affected by MASLD (formerly NAFLD).
For starters, a relatively recent study published in 2016 in Barcelona, Spain showed that coffee could actually help reverse fatty liver, according to Science Daily.
However, this study was conducted on mice and used the equivalent of six shots of espresso for testing, which is a bit excessive if it’s a daily dose (as opposed to a one-time dose). But it’s still a good start.
Medical News Today also reports that during an event held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London, experts reviewed multiple studies linking coffee consumption to lower risks of fatty liver, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer.
The general consensus: regular coffee consumption is associated with better liver outcomes.
You don’t have to go overboard to benefit. Most research suggests that two to four cups a day is the sweet spot – enough to help, not enough to cause problems.
According to WebMD, even moderate amounts will slow down fibrosis, cirrhosis and fatty liver in general.
What’s in Coffee That Helps?
Scientists haven’t pinpointed the “magic” ingredient(s) yet, but caffeine plays a role by influencing certain liver enzymes and slowing the buildup of scar tissue (fibrosis).
Other compounds found in coffee, such as kahweol and cafestol, appear to offer additional protection thanks to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
With over 1,000 natural chemicals in every bean, it’s impossible to credit just one hero – or even a handful – but the takeaway is clear anyway: your cup of coffee contains a mix of substances that collectively protect liver cells and help reduce fat accumulation. And that’s all that should matter for most of us.
When Coffee Can Be a Problem
Before you pour that extra cup, it’s worth noting a few caveats.
Even though more coffee is better for fatty liver disease, there are other conditions and health problems that might force you to cut back or eliminate it completely.
If you have high blood pressure, caffeine can make it worse. Coffee can also interfere with sleep, and good sleep is vital for liver repair.
And if you suffer from acid reflux, gastritis, anxiety, or are pregnant, coffee might irritate your system even if it’s technically liver-friendly. If you have any of these problems (or others not listed here), it’s best to discuss them with your doctor and learn whether or not you should have more coffee (or any at all).
So don’t start drinking more coffee purely because it’s “good for your liver.” It’s a helpful companion, that’s true, but it’s not a cure. However, if it’s already part of your life, you can relax knowing you don’t need to quit it, as long as you prepare it the right way.
Which takes us to a very important part of this article…
How to Drink Coffee with Fatty Liver
Unfortunately, if your morning ritual involves a caramel syrup explosion topped with whipped cream, it’s time to rethink your strategy. There are just a few ways you can drink coffee in order to enjoy the benefits, without making it an actual danger for your liver.
Black coffee is ideal – this way, you only get the benefits from the beans, and nothing more. Add sugar, cream, flavored syrup, or coffee creamers, and it stops being helpful (you can even say that it turns into dessert).
If black coffee is too harsh for you (or just too plain), you can add a bit of low-fat milk (or even vegan milk options, as long as they are natural and healthy – most are NOT!) And if you really need it sweeter, add a tiny bit of honey or stevia.
We have already talked about alternatives for sweetening your coffee – so you have options.
Natural flavorings like cinnamon or vanilla extract also work well for those who want a little extra taste without the damage.
Does the Type of Coffee Matter?
Not much, but there are small nuances worth knowing about – consider them “extra knowledge” rather than “must-knows”.
Instant, espresso, or filtered coffee all show similar benefits in studies. However, filtered coffee might have a slight edge because filtering removes cafestol, a compound that can raise cholesterol.
So if you’re using a French press or making Turkish coffee, that’s still fine, but using a paper filter may make your brew just a bit friendlier to your overall health. However, overall, the type of coffee you drink won’t influence things too much one way or the other.
Is decaf good if you have a fatty liver?
For those who can’t drink regular coffee, decaffeinated coffee becomes the only option. You only have to keep in mind one extra thing: it has to be the right kind of decaf coffee.
Some brands use harsh chemicals (like methylene chloride) during decaffeination, which you don’t want anywhere near your liver. Look for water-processed (sometimes called “water method” or “Swiss water processed”) or CO₂-processed decaf.
These methods use water or carbon dioxide instead of chemicals to remove caffeine, and both are considered healthy. You can read about different ways of making decaf coffee here, if you want to get the full scoop.
Even though decaf contains less caffeine, studies suggest that many of coffee’s benefits remain because antioxidants and other compounds stay intact.
So yes, decaf coffee is still good for fatty liver, as long as you’re drinking a clean version. These include the Kicking Horse Decaf Coffee (affiliate link) or you can check out more healthy options here.
My personal experience: how I drank my coffee
When I was diagnosed with a fatty liver, I was overweight, extremely stressed, had very poor eating habits and a lot was going on in my life.
As a result, I also had high blood pressure at the time, and the doctors had put me on beta-blockers to keep my blood pressure under control (and I was only 30, if you can imagine!)
So for almost the entire time that I needed to reverse my fatty liver (1.5 years for those who didn’t read my other articles), I drank almost exclusively decaffeinated coffee.
After about 1 year of dieting – maybe a bit more – my blood pressure went down and normalized, so I was taken off the meds. Slowly, after, I switched to drinking regular coffee again because it tastes better in my opinion.
I usually had just one large cup of homemade coffee in the morning, for years. Early on, I added 1/4 of a teaspoon of honey to sweeten it, but eventually I switched to adding low-fat milk instead (so no sweetener at all).
The trick here is to have good coffee – it tastes amazing without sugar and just with some added milk. This way, you can really feel the flavor of the coffee.
Years after having it with milk, I was finally able to switch to drinking black coffee, unsweetened. And now that has become my second cup, which is a mix of the decaf and the regular coffee (usually, since I prepare the filtered kind, I just add the decaf over the previously made one, and I don’t mind it at all).
So while I am sure that it wasn’t the coffee that helped me reverse my fatty liver, as I was following my recommended diet, exercising, sleeping more and losing a lot of weight, at the very worst it didn’t do any harm.
Conclusion
Unless you have medical conditions that specifically prohibit caffeine, coffee isn’t something you need to give up when managing or reversing fatty liver disease.
Coffee could even help your quest to reverse your condition, so unless you have other medical conditions that prevent you from having it, just enjoy your daily cup! Even if you can only drink decaf, it’s still good.
But always consider how you drink your coffee: with minimal (ideally zero) sweeteners added to it, black or just with some low fat milk added to the mix.
And if you also enjoy drinking tea, there is even more good news for you – so make sure you read my article about green tea and fatty liver, or a more generic one sharing the best types of teas for fatty liver disease.
I was diagnosed with a fatty liver in 2014 and reversed it by mid-2015 through diet & lifestyle changes. Since then, I’ve been studying this condition continuously, keeping up to date with the latest scientific findings and practical approaches.
My articles are based on medical studies and my direct, personal experience reversing this condition. Now, I am the published author of the top-rated book, “From Fatty Liver to Healthy Liver”.
I have been drinking coffee since my grandmother put half-coffee, half-milk in my baby bottle. It is a staple of my life. If you were to write that it was a no-no, I would still not give it up. Can have a mug of it just before bedtime with no problems whatsoever.
That said, I found this article fascinating. Thank you so much for providing this information. Never knew what the components of coffee were. This is a keeper! Now off to get my second mug of this magic brew….
Sharon
Haha, indeed! It is nice to hear that we are still allowed to have some of the things that we enjoy in an otherwise restrictive diet.
What about freeze-dried coffee? I buy an organic brand that really tastes good, not like the horrid major brands in the store… wonder if freeze dried has the same effect?