As a Fatty Liver Disease patient, you may now be aware of the necessary changes that should be done in terms of your lifestyle and activity. The most basic thing is to quit your vices—most especially, smoking and drinking.
Keeping up with a healthy and active lifestyle can be a challenge, especially for the uninitiated. However, don’t give in to the pressure. You can achieve and get used to the healthy way if you know how to take it slowly, but surely.
Of course, this article is made to help you out with this new, but healthy phase in your life.
Let’s start with the basics, shall we?
This table contains the recommended daily intake for Fatty Liver/Non-fatty Liver disease patients:
| Daily Intake | 1,200-1,500 kcal |
| Daily Fat Intake | Less than 35% of daily intake |
| Daily Carbohydrate & Protein Intake | Lesser or at least 50% of daily intake (More on the types of food later). |
| Recommended Physical Activity | At least 150 minutes/week for moderate to vigorous exercises. |
It looks so simplified when it’s viewed in that table, eh? Now comes the heavy part—how to implement it.
As you can see, the recommended daily intake to start your Fatty Liver Disease diet is just around 1,200-1,500 kcal every day. That’s actually close to the usual recommended daily intake, so you won’t be actually starving yourself when it comes to this type of diet. The main thing to look out for is choosing the right kind of food and beverage to not stray from your number of required kcal each day.
It’s also important to note that you need fats, protein and carbohydrate in your diet. So again, you are very much welcome to eat meat and possibly, a few treats. All you need now is control.
First and foremost, let’s strike out the types of food that are too heavy in terms of kcal, and can be unhealthy for your overall health. Below is a list:
- Processed Foods (that includes any frozen or pre-processed food)
Well, this one is pretty much hard to avoid since the market is teeming with packed and processed stuff. The main thing to remember though is to opt for fresh and organic fruits—don’t buy in the frozen section anymore, or any food that’s canned or sealed with preservatives.
- Sweet, Sugary Treats
This is particularly bad for Fatty Liver Disease patients who are also diabetic at the same time. But it’s still pretty bad for Fatty Liver Disease patients without diabetes because high sugar foods can overwork the liver.
- Sodas
Since Sodas contain high doses of sugar, then it’s a no.
- Fastfood Basics and Pastry
Burger, fries, pizza, donuts and cakes. They may be a gastric treat, but the cholesterol and high calorie each of these foods possesses is not friendly to your liver—or to your overall health. More so, these foods are very much processed and laced with preservatives, so it’s a big DON’T.
Now the don’ts are already taken care of, here are the foods that you should eat:
- Whole grains
These foods are high in fiber and can greatly help your liver get rid of all that bad fat and other toxins.
- Lean Meat and Vegetable-based protein
Since you need protein in your body, it’s important to note that you still need to avoid the bad types of meat (like pork). For healthy protein sources, go for beans, fish and other types of seafood.
- Fruits and vegetables
Of course this is the most important part of your diet, fruits and vegetables are very low in calories and rich in fiber and nutrients. So they are perfect for daily intake without you feeling guilty—no matter how much you chomp down on them. However, for people who are also diabetic or at risk of being one, it’s important to note that most fruits contain high amounts of sugar, so it won’t be advisable to eat too much. Other fruits such as lemon and lime however, don’t contain much sugar, so you can have those instead.
Here’s an example of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals on a Fatty Liver Disease diet:
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
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For more liver-friendly recipes and a month-long guide of food choices, you can
What If I Want to Eat Out?
It sometimes cannot be avoided that we have certain occasions to celebrate, and we do that by treating ourselves, our family, or colleagues to a lunch or dinner out of the house. But, is it okay? First, just avoid the fastfood chains since you may just be tempted to eat the unhealthy stuff.
Just go to a nice restaurant and if possible, just order a veggie salad or a seafood/fish dish for yourself. Pasta is good too!
Which Kind of Exercise Is Best?
If you are still starting out with a regular exercise program, don’t rush your body into a strenuous one. The purpose of your exercise is to burn excess fat, so just go with an activity that can make you at least sweat much. For starters, you can go for 10-20 minute walks or jogs. You shouldn’t also be on a rush to lose weight.
Since this is a “Diet”, Am I Required to Lose Weight?
Consequently, you are really bound to lose weight in a Fatty Liver Disease diet. However, it’s not really the main goal per se, because the goal here is to employ an active and healthy lifestyle that you can maintain easily for the rest of your life. The requirement here however is to monitor and keep watch of your weight gain or loss while you are on the diet. Don’t be on a rush to lose weight fast because it could worsen your Fatty Liver. Just make sure that you lose weight on a “healthy” scale, and that’s just at least 5-10% less of your overall weight per year when you start the diet.
What Other Alternatives I Can Take?
Refreshments! Specifically, you can make your own juices that can help the liver get rid all that excess fat and toxins in your body. That’s by detoxing! To cleanse your liver, you need to create and mix juices made from fruits or vegetables and drink it daily as part of your Fatty Liver Disease diet.
How can this help?
As mentioned earlier, fruits and veggies are high in fiber, so they are your helpers when it comes to cleaning your liver. Juicing just gives it an added benefit—it’s yummy and refreshing (and of course, healthy)! For starters, you can try out a juice made from lemon, cucumber and mint leaves. For more juicing recipes, you can go here.
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