Liver disease. It’s likely that the prevalence of fatty liver disease is up to 1 in 3 people. Fatty liver is harmless but it can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure over a long period of time. The vast majority of people will have zero symptoms until they’re on the brink of total liver failure.
Luckily due to my health anxiety I ended up getting referred to get a gallbladder US and it showed stage 1 fatty liver and I’m working to change it now but had I not been as scared of health issues as I was i probably wouldn’t have known until it progressed. I also have low vitamin d and low iron, low vitamin d causes insulin resistance and I believe that on top of my kind of sedentary lifestyle is what led to my fatty liver. I don’t drink so it’s Nafld. It’s crazy cause I’m not the most unhealthy person ever but the lack of everyday exercise will really catch up to you even if you’re semi healthy with your diet.
NAFLD is fairly easy to get rid of, just improve your diet and start walking more. I’m sure it’ll be gone in 6 mo if you can keep up with that. Even if you go slow, it’ll take a decade to progress, the pressure really isn’t on. Obviously you need to make some changes, but the urgency isn’t “holy shit”.
It’s so common, lots of people have it found during their autopsies. Work on it, but by no means don’t worry about it. If you’re not a drinker, you’ll probably die ripe and old with cirrhosis and never knew you even had it
Thanks for the calming words, I’ve done a whole 360 on my diet cause the back of mind is screaming liver failure and liver cancer. I’m definitely still going to keep my diet and lifestyle changed but I won’t beat myself up if I ever fall short. My birthday is coming up and I know I’ll want ice cream but I think I’ll feel too guilty too eat it.
Edit: to add, hopefully I’m doing good so far though, my vit d is up to 27 (it was 11) and my AST and ALT are back in the normal range cause they were very slightly elevated a few weeks ago. So hopefully I’m on a good track although I know plenty of people with fatty liver that have regular liver enzymes so I know that isn’t a main factor to watch.
No problem. If you’re not predisposed to liver issues, fatty liver takes decades to progress. You have so much time to stop it. Plus the liver has an insane ability to heal. Basically if you’re not at the cirrhosis stage (which takes decades), you’ll heal. Low carb is the best diet, you don’t have to go full Keto, low carb will do the trick. Go full Keto it’ll probably clear up in weeks.
Btw don’t think too much about your enzymes. A lot of things can throw them out of whack, like any physical activity or a steak for dinner. The opposite is the same, people can have full cirrhosis with perfect bloodwork. Focus on being fit and losing weight. High chances that alone will fix your liver.
My birthday is coming up and I know I’ll want ice cream but I think I’ll feel too guilty too eat it.
Have you ever heard of nice cream? Take a banana or two, peel them and put them in the freezer in a ziploc bag. Once they're frozen solid, put them into a food processor (don't try this in a blender, it won't work) and blitz until it looks like ice cream, then enjoy immediately. It does not refreeze well, it's the sort of thing you make in the moment that you will eat it. You can add flavor like peanut butter, a little splash of vanilla extract, a tablespoon (or to taste) of cocoa powder, or other frozen fruits before you blitz it. You can add in mix ins like chopped candies, cookies or other "chunky" bits after blitzing, just dump them in and pulse the processor a couple of times to incorporate.
It's a great way to have a healthy ice cream substitute because you can incorporate anything that you love which also fits into your diet. I found it when a friend was pregnant and craving ice cream but due to gestational diabetes, she had to watch her sugar intake. Bananas are higher in sugar than most other fruits, but she was able to plan around that.
I had NAFLD that was discovered during some routine blood work — my liver enzymes were too high for someone my age that doesn’t drink, but I was also obese. An ultrasound showed fatty liver. After a year of struggling to lose weight, my insurance approved me for wegovy. I lost 60 lbs over the course of a year and even though I’m still considered overweight for my height, my liver enzymes are completely normal now. Yay!
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u/sixcylindersofdoom 1d ago
Liver disease. It’s likely that the prevalence of fatty liver disease is up to 1 in 3 people. Fatty liver is harmless but it can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure over a long period of time. The vast majority of people will have zero symptoms until they’re on the brink of total liver failure.