Fatty liver used to be considered harmless: a little extra fat in the liver that didn’t matter much. We now know better. It’s become the most common liver condition in Australia, it’s showing up in younger people more than ever, and if it’s left alone it can quietly progress to scarring and cirrhosis.
Here’s the hopeful part, and it’s a big one: your liver is one of the most forgiving organs in your body. Give it the right conditions and it can clear out the fat and repair itself.
What is fatty liver?
Fatty liver means fat has built up inside your liver cells. A healthy liver holds a little fat, but when more than about 5% of the liver is fat, it’s called fatty liver disease.
In 2023, international liver experts renamed the most common type metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD (Rinella et al., 2023). The new name makes the cause clearer: it’s driven by metabolism, things like insulin resistance, tummy fat, high blood sugar, high triglycerides and high blood pressure. Fatty liver from heavy drinking is a separate type, and the two can overlap.
From the Honeycomb kitchen
One Pan Roasted Chickpeas & Veggies
Orange Sesame Tofu with Greens & Rice
Tofu, Broccoli & Brown RiceWhy your liver matters so much
Your liver is your largest internal organ and your main processing plant, in the factory that is your body. Blood from your digestive system passes through it before it goes anywhere else. It sorts nutrients, stores energy, makes cholesterol (you don’t need to eat it) and bile, balances hormones and breaks down anything your body doesn’t recognise as food: additives, alcohol, medications and chemicals from the air and your home. Read more in Liver 101: your master filter.
Keep reading inside the Hive
The rest of this article is for Honeycomb members 🐝
Members read every Knowledge Hive article in full, plus 1,300+ recipes, the meal planner and the Six-Week Nutrition Reset.
Try 7 days freeAlready a member? Log in
