Fatty liver disease: Preventative diet and some easy lifestyle tips
Bear in mind that your central metabolic organ is at risk of fatty liver disease due to an unhealthy diet, a lack of exercise and being overweight.
Often people don't have any symptoms in the early stages, but may suffer from fatigue, pain in the upper right side of the abdomen and/or unexplained weight loss.
If abnormal fat build-up progresses, it can cause inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), scarring (fibrosis) and, the most severe stage, cirrhosis, which can lead to fatal conditions such as liver failure and liver cancer.
Fortunately, minor lifestyle changes can have a major positive effect, says the German Liver Foundation. It has a number of tips:
Cut down on fat and sugar, as foods that are high in sugar, saturated fatty acids and ultra-processed put a strain on your liver. Instead, regularly eat fresh vegetables, whole-grain products and low-sugar fruits. Speaking of fruit, better to eat it than to drink it as smoothies are often high in fructose.
Drink plenty of water or unsweetened tea, which helps your liver perform essential functions such as detoxifying substances harmful to your body.
Coffee also has positive effects, recent studies have shown. You should avoid fizzy drinks sweetened with high concentrations of fructose.
And then there's alcohol: Conscientious and moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages is crucial to your liver health. Try having regular alcohol-free days. Drinking no alcohol whatsoever is even better, the German Liver Foundation says.
Make exercise part of your daily routine. It needn't be time-consuming or intensive as simply taking a walk, riding a bike to work or going up stairs rather than using a lift are all good for your health. And if you can walk around while using the phone in your office, that is another way to squeeze in a bit of additional exercise too.
"Fatty liver, also known as steatotic liver disease (SLD), is one of the most underestimated health risks," says Dr. Michael P. Manns, the German Liver Foundation's executive board chairman. It's the most frequent cause of liver inflammation in the Western world.
The foundation also warns of misinformation about healthy diets, particularly on social media. "Reliable and evidence-based information is of great importance, especially when it comes to the significant topic of nutrition," Manns says.
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What to have instead: home-made protein drinks 'It's much better to make your own,' says Moore. 'Use a protein powder – whey or flavourless bone-broth powder – and just whizz that together with a bit of good quality milk and an egg yolk. Add some berries, a little bit of cocoa powder. You've got everything you want in there and it costs a fraction of the price.' 5. Fruit juice 'When I was a young doctor, I would drink orange juice virtually every morning, considering it a healthy option,' Prof Spector recalls. 'Sadly, as delicious as fruit juices are, they're not great for our overall health. The juicing process removes almost all the fibre, so the sugar is absorbed rapidly into your bloodstream, which can cause health issues in the long run.' One 2025 study published in Nutrients found that juicing increased inflammation in the gut and permeability in the gut lining, negatively affecting the microbiome. The same applies to smoothies, which may be filled with entirely natural ingredients but contain concentrated amounts of sugar and fructose. 'There is no such thing as a good fruit juice,' Moore says categorically. 'It's a sugar bomb.' What to have instead: kefir Kefir usually contains around 30 different strains of microbes, compared with yogurt, which only has four. It makes a good alternative to fruit juice as a breakfast drink and is high in protein. 6. Lager The message is very simple: alcohol is damaging to your gut health. Lager may contain less alcohol than other drinks, but it has a very high sugar content, which brings with it a range of negative repercussions to the gut microbiome. As Moore points out: 'While a lot of alcohol will be absorbed before it reaches the gut microbes, some will get through. The effect on your microbes will be loss of number and potentially loss of diversity. These microbes replace themselves very quickly, but if someone is drinking alcohol every night, say, it will be very damaging to the gut microbiome.' What to have instead: Guinness or alcohol-free beer 'Sadly, alcohol in general is bad for your gut,' says Prof Spector. 'However, darker beers tend to have more polyphenols, so if you enjoy an occasional tipple, opt for something dark.' A good example is Guinness which is known to have high levels of polyphenols. Alcohol-free beers are also growing in popularity, though Moore points out that they tend to have a high sugar content. 'The debate is then, 'Is the alcohol or the sugar worse for the gut microbiome?' I think either is probably fine in real moderation, but neither are great on a regular basis.' 7. Dark spirits Dark spirits like whisky, brandy and rum are particularly harmful because they contain high levels of congeners, natural compounds that are associated with more hangover severity and gut inflammation. 'These congeners are chemical compounds that come from the process of making darker spirits, as opposed to vodka and gin,' says Moore. What to have instead: tequila/mezcal 'All spirits, regardless of colour, are bad for your gut health,' warns Prof Spector. However, if you're looking for a slightly less destructive option, studies suggest that tequila and mezcal could be a comparatively healthier choice. 'Both are made from the agave plant, which is full of inulin, which is a very potent prebiotic fibre,' says Moore. 'If you want to drink a spirit, your best option is to drink tequila mixed with some water kefir. That way you've actually got live microbes in the water kefir and prebiotics in the tequila. So you could potentially be getting something beneficial from an alcoholic drink.' What should we be drinking to maintain optimal gut health? Water is the ideal option, but it can get boring so it makes sense to find tasty, healthy alternatives. When it comes to gut health, the top choice is fermented drinks like kefir and kombucha which contain live microbes. 'Make sure you choose one that doesn't contain lots of additives and sugar, and make sure the label says 'live cultures' or 'live microbes,'' advises Prof Spector. 'If it has been pasteurised to extend shelf life, for instance, the microbes will be dead.' Moore recommends high-quality matcha green tea powder. Matcha is 'rich in antioxidants, particularly something called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which has anti-inflammatory properties. What's great about it is that you can either drink it as tea or mix it into smoothies.' What about tea and coffee? 'Black tea contains a wide range of healthy plant compounds called polyphenols,' says Prof Spector. 'These include theaflavins, thearubigins and catechins, which may support gut and overall health. Studies show that regularly consuming tea can reduce the number of 'bad' bacteria and increase levels of more beneficial microbes. However, green tea seems to be better than black.' Coffee, he adds, is also beneficial. 'It contains fibre and polyphenols, both of which can feed your gut microbiome. In fact, a study found one microbe called Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus. This species was much more common in people who drank coffee and was associated with a marker of good metabolic and gut health. In general, it seems that drinking up to five cups per day can support your gut health. And if caffeine doesn't agree with you, decaffeinated coffee is just as good for your microbiome.' The main problem with tea and coffee, of course, is what people put in them. Sugar should be cut out, ideally, and if you're drinking multiple cups per day, add only a small amount of milk – though Moore does point out that for some people, drinking black coffee on an empty stomach may not be advisable: 'It can be quite acidic and disruptive to the digestive system, so adding a bit of milk can soften it and help the body manage the acidity better.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
