I'm in my 30s and fatty liver showed up on my health checkup: what should I do first?
At this year's checkup, I was told I have stage 1 fatty liver. I barely drink, but I really haven't been exercising at all.
My doctor said I'm not at the stage where I need medication yet, and suggested correcting my lifestyle habits for 3 months and then getting retested.
I'm curious what a realistic way to start diet and exercise would be. I've failed at signing up for a gym before. If anyone has seen results with walking or at-home workouts, please share how you did it.
9 answers
I was also at stage 1 last year, but this year my results came back normal. I didn’t sign up for a gym; I just walked briskly for 40 minutes every evening. For meals, I only cut white rice in half and stopped eating soup, and after 6 months my liver enzyme levels improved too. More than exercise intensity, 'every day' is the real key.
The easiest thing is to cut out high-fructose corn syrup. Soft drinks, fruit juice, coffee with syrup. If you don’t drink alcohol but have fatty liver, it’s often largely caused by sugar. I cut that out and lost 12 kg in 3 months.
Since it's obvious you won't go if you sign up for a gym, the right order is to start with your diet. When you consider how much 30 minutes of cardio actually contributes to fat loss, adjusting your meals is far more effective.
Walking is great. Just don’t make it a casual stroll—walk at a pace that leaves you out of breath for at least 40 minutes. For me, I got off one stop early on my commute and walked, so I didn’t have to carve out extra time.
Well, that's a bit... With stage 1 fatty liver, a lot of people get back to normal within 3 months, so it's not really something to be too worried about, but the comments saying 'you just need to walk' seem a bit optimistic. Diet is 80% of it.
For me, diet made a much bigger difference than exercise. I only stuck to two things—not eating carbs at night and cutting delivery food down to once a week—and by Stage 1, my levels were normal. You got this.