Creating the perfect shopping list for fatty liver disease is not an easy task, but I am here to make things as simple as possible by sharing the things I eat and buy, so that you can mix and match them for a healthy, liver-friendly shopping list.
You can purchase products monthly or weekly (or even more often, especially where fresh ingredients are involved) and the huge list below will help you get everything you need to reverse your fatty liver disease.
Since many people have various other restrictions (like vegans, gluten-free diets and so on), it’s difficult to create one list that fits all requirements, hence my approach of listing the products and letting you decide which fit your new eating style and potential restrictions or preferences.
Plus, you can buy everything online which is even better and easier!
Most of these foods are either raw ingredients or have no preservatives, extra chemicals, added sugars or all the things that we don’t need in our lives, especially after being diagnosed with NAFLD/MASLD.
It takes me several hours to update this list every year, so any support you can show is greatly appreciated: share it with your friends, or help me keep this blog alive by joining my Patreon page.
Also note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this article. However, this does not influence the prices, nor the products I recommend.
Fresh vegetables and fruits
We’re starting with the two categories experts consider the foundation of a healthy diet for fatty liver disease: fresh vegetables and fruits.
When it comes to vegetables, you can eat anything as long as you eat in moderation and have a balanced diet.
Keep the potato consumption low and get a fair share of beets into your diet (they do wonders to your liver, being considered a superfood), as well as onions, peppers, zucchini, avocados, garlic and so on.
If you want to order them online and have them delivered to your doorstep, check out Amazon’s amazing offer of fresh vegetables here.
When it comes to fruits, you can also eat everything that’s fresh and ideally seasonal. Moderation remains key, but you should also focus more on fruits that have fewer carbs (like blueberries, strawberries and all the other berries). I wrote a more in-depth article detailing fruits and fatty liver disease here.
You can order them online from the large category of fresh fruits on Amazon here.
Although fruits and vegetables should be the things you eat the most, there is so much more to eat when you have a fatty liver. Let’s go through these products below!
Canned fruits & veggies
While I recommend using fresh (or at least frozen) fruits and veggies, it doesn’t hurt to have some canned ones on hand just in case.
When it comes to these, it’s difficult to find varieties without added sugar, but not impossible. Here is what you can get when it comes to fruits:
- Dole’s Pineapple Chunks in 100% Pineapple Juice
- Amazon Fresh’s Sliced Peaches in Fruit Juice (i LOVE these!)
- Del Monte FRUIT CUPS (various mixes of fruits – PERFECT for a snack)
- Dole’s Mandarin Oranges in 100% Fruit Juice
- Del Monte No Sugar Added Sliced Pears
For vegetables, you also have plenty of options. I am recommending my favorite below, although you can typically find any type of vegetable in canned format:
- Canned Sliced Beets
- Fire roasted tomatoes (crushed)
- Crushed tomatoes (crushed)
- Cut Green Beans
- Organic Sweet Peas
- Canned Whole Kernel Corn
If you decide to order different brands or products, make sure to read the list of ingredients to ensure there is no added sugar, nor any preservatives or other chemicals.
I have even more canned foods recommended below (including other veggies and legumes), so make sure you go through the whole list!
Healthy snacks for fatty liver
These work great as snacks and you have multiple options above. I personally prefer the dry roasted peanuts and other seeds because they don’t have added oils, but the Planters Deluxe mix is yummy too. Check them all out below:
- Planters Lightly Salted Dry Roasted Peanuts
- Dry Roasted Peanuts (Unsalted)
- Planters Deluxe Salted Mixed Nuts (my favorite snack!)
- Oven Roasted Cashews
- Organic Pumpkin Seeds
You can get more types of seeds and nuts and eat small amounts for breakfast or as a snack – but keep portions under control as they all have plenty of calories and fats! Just make sure that whatever you buy has no sugars added, nor flavorings, extra oil or preservatives.
Now let’s check out a few other healthy snacks you can have:
- RXBAR Chocolate protein bars (or start with their Variety pack to find your favorite)
- gimMe Organic Roasted Seaweed
- Apple + Pineapple Fruit bar (100% fruit, various flavors available).
- Zest Delites Fruit Snack (also many flavors available)
- Amazon Fresh Restaurant Style tortilla chips (cheap and tasty)
- Garden of Eatin’ Blue Chips
- White Bean Chips
- Clean Jerky (My favorite beef jerky)
- Finn Crisp Crispbread (usually as a base for a topping, like homemade guacamole or hummus)
I am sure you will love all the products listed above – they make for great snacks. For even more ideas (mainly things you can prepare at home, I recommend reading my previous article sharing the best snacks for fatty liver disease).
Base ingredients for fatty liver-friendly cooking
Now that we’ve managed to get the snacks out of the way, let’s focus on the base ingredients required for healthy cooking for fatty liver. We’ll start with the absolute basics, which you must always have available:
- Iliada Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Delicious, made in Greece)
- AmazonFresh Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Nature Nate’s Raw, Unfiltered Honey
- Coombs Family Farms Maple Syrup
- Pure Stevia Powder
- Bragg Organic, Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Next, I’m going to link to more individual products. I am trying to keep them grouped as logically as possible, but it’s very difficult to work with such a huge shopping list for fatty liver foods, so you’ll still have to browse through all of these in order to make sure that you’re getting all the goodies.
Here are other base ingredients that will come in handy and are worth having at home:
- Red Kidney Beans
- White beans
- Red Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Quinoa (organic)
- Chia Seeds (organic)
- Black rice
- Kalamata olives
- Canned red kidney beans
- Canned black beans
- Canned white beans (Cannellini)
Organic rolled oats
Perfect for a quick breakfast – just boil them in water (maybe add a bit of milk for extra flavor) and add some fresh berries, some coconut flakes and cinnamon and a bit of honey and you’re ready for a nice start of your day!
Instant soups & foods
Usually, ready-to-eat meals and microwaveable foods should be avoided because they are ultraprocessed and basically unhealthy, with tons of chemicals, preservatives and flavorings, as well as tons of fat, sugar and salt.
However, there are some options that I consider acceptable. Definitely not something that you should consume daily – but good to have around for an emergency or a quick meal.
While I recommend the healthiest options below, keep in mind that they are still highly processed and have tons of salt – although they are better than most options out there.
- Vegan Lentil Soup, Light in Sodium
- Organic, No Salt Chicken Noodle Soup
- Organic Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Refried Beans
- Canned Tuna Variety Pack
- Wild-caught Pink Salmon
- Ready to Eat Indian Bowls (variety pack)
These are healthy, safer options compared to other instant meals out there. If you decide to buy something else, read the list of ingredients and make sure that the list is as clean as possible.
Pasta
Many people stay away from pasta and products made from wheat, but I didn’t and I still managed to reverse my fatty liver.
I believe that moderation is key so as long as you don’t eat more often than once per week, you should be OK. Of course, pair your pasta with liver-friendly toppings, with minimal cheese and more vegetables/tomatoes.
Or you can go for gluten-free alternatives (which are healthier too):
Peanut butter
We’re rounding up this epic shopping list for fatty liver-friendly foods with something for the soul: peanut butter.
Make sure that you get my recommended products – or if you choose your own, make sure it only has 1 ingredient: peanuts. Most peanut butters out there have added oils (hydrogenated oils, to make things worse) and sugar among other things on the ingredients list, making them extremely unhealthy.
My recommendations only have peanuts (organic peanuts, too) so they’re the best you can get on the market:
What about meat?
You can (and should) still have meat, but only very lean cuts and types of meat. The main meats you should consume are fish, chicken and turkey. BUT some very lean cuts can be had from pork and/or beef.
When it comes to meat, it’s best to buy your own from a local source or a nearby store. Make sure that you get the highest quality possible, with the least amount of fat.
And this would be it for now! This is my epic shopping list for fatty liver friendly foods. Just make sure to come back each month and select the products you need. This way, eating clean for your fatty liver will be a lot easier!
PIN it for later
There are still a lot of things that you can buy in order to keep your diet balanced and extremely varied and this list alone proves that we do have a ton of options when it comes to eating for a healthier liver.
Remember: you don’t have to buy all the foods listed above, just pick the ones you enjoy the most, mix and match.
They will help you go for a balanced, healthy diet and represent most of the things you should eat when suffering from a fatty liver.
I was diagnosed with a fatty liver back in 2014 and managed to reverse it by mid-2015. Since then, I’ve been studying it, continuously updating my knowledge with the latest scientific findings and practical approaches to give others the help they need to reverse their condition.
My approach to managing fatty liver is holistic, balancing scientifically-backed information with real-life, practical advice based on personal, direct experience.
I am also the admin of the Fatty Liver Support Group on Facebook and the Fatty Liver Subreddit.
Omg! Thank you for posting this. Sincerely.
I was recently diagnosed with NAFLD and feel like I’m going out of my mind trying to figure this whole healthy eating and exercise thing out. Other factors are contributing to my insanity such as my PCOS, and disabilities like plantar fasciitis and ligament laxity which make it painful to exercise normally. Your blog, and this list, are like the silver lining of a cloud. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait to get started on this and heal my liver. <3 You have definitely gained a new fan.
Much love,
Midge
Thank you, Midge! I am really happy to hear that you find this useful. I am sure that, despite the other health problems that you’re dealing with and which make this a bit more challenging, you will be able to reverse it if you stick to the diet and exercise as much as your body allows you to.
I too am so thankful for your thoughtfulness in making this information free of charge and providing me with the much needed guidance and hope during this start up phase in my “heal my fatty liver” journey.
Very happy to hear that, Marilee! A good start and sticking to it means that you’ll manage to reverse it faster – so good luck on your quest! You can do it!
Thank you for this article. It was very helpful!
I am happy to hear that, Shelly!
Thanks very much for the above information. I have just been diagnosed with fatty liver and am now beginning to try and twist my brain around the diet requirements. I was wondering about dairy products. I picked up a few fresh cobs of corn today but I can’t imagine eating it without butter on it. Also, I drink regular black tea frequently and like milk and sugar in it. Stevia should be fine for the sweetener but what about the milk and is the tea itself ok to have?
Thanks again for the info! 🙂
Sorry for the late reply, Shayne!
Regarding the tea, I would say that the sugar is much worse than the milk – as long as you use low fat milk (1.5% fat, for example). So that with pure Stevia should be fine.
Regarding the corn, you will unfortunately have to get used to eating without butter. Or at least give it a few months of intense dieting, then once you are in a safe weight zone, add as little as possible for the extra taste.
Firstly, thank you Lynn for your guidance into this whole new world I have found myself in recently, having been diagnosed with NAFLD and high cholesterol! I’m based in the UK and a lot of the foods you list aren’t available on our shop shelves, but at least it’s given me an idea of what to look for and how to gauge what is good and bad for my fatty liver. One question: I don’t really like green tea, but love peppermint tea. Would peppermint tea have the same effect as green tea?
Wendy, I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis. But you’re on the right track, taking the measures you are and doing this research. This is the easiest way to reverse the condition.
Regarding the peppermint tea, I haven’t read any studies about it having the same effects as green tea. However, peppermint is known to have antioxidants called flavonoids, which are in turn responsible for helping the liver (these are also present in green tea as well). So, even though there are no studies for this, peppermint tea could actually help.
My recommendation? Why not try a green tea / peppermint combination? This way you get the taste you like and the benefits of drinking green tea.
Hi
Thank you so much 🙂
Could you recommend any bread also butter replacement. If not the best I could have sparingly.
Kind regards
Hello,
For bread, I would recommend ketobread. I wrote about them here: https://www.fattyliverdiary.com/fatty-liver-bread-alternatives-ketobreads/
Regarding a butter alternative, I would not switch to margarine which is really unhealthy. I personally started spreading yogurt (3% fat, no sugar added) on bread instead of butter and it works pretty well. If you can’t do it, try with something thicker like sour cream or keep using butter, but way less than before.
Try the Melt butter products. They are plant based (dairy and soy-free) but they are excellent butter substitutes if you are trying to avoid dairy and they have a creamy butter taste so they work well on toast.
Thank you so much for this resource! I was diagnosed several years ago but after recent cervical fusion surgery I realize my longevity is in part dependent on what I put in my body and other healthy behaviors. So I am starting a new chapter and using this wonderful site to guide and encourage me.
Thank you for your kind words, Margie. We do have to pay attention to what we eat. Now that you’re doing this, I’m sure things will get better soon.
Recently diagnosed and lost in the world of things I can have vs. what I can’t. I appreciate this site so much, it’s been super-helpful as I learn to navigate my new world. <3 Thank you!
The shopping list is fantastic! Thank you so much!
Happy to help, Anitra!