If you would like to watch some very good videos about liver disease,

click here to take a video tour

Fatty Liver & Liver Cirrhosis Are At Epidemic Levels!

• 100,000,000 Americans have a fatty liver.  Most don't know it.
• 20,000,000 will develop liver fibrosis disease or NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) as a result.
• 5,000,000 million will progress to liver cirrhosis or NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) and possibly end stage liver failure.  
• Some will be lucky enough to be listed for a transplant, the only cure for late stage liver disease, but 30% of those listed will die waiting.  Death by liver failure is long and difficult.  
• We want to help you avoid this kind of death by helping you understand how you may be killing yourself slowly.  And, what you can do about it.
• If you are already ill, we will do our best to help you with that process.

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Our Mission

To improve the diagnosis, treatment & support of Americans with fatty liver, NAFLD or NASH through awareness, education, screening and patient advocacy.

Click here to learn more.

We Advocate Early Screening

Typically, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are silent diseases.  They have no symptoms. Even if cirrhosis has developed, there are often no symptoms until the liver has become so damaged that the only option is a liver transplant.

There is currently a quick, easy and economical method to screen for fatty liver disease called a FibroScan.  Unfortunately, the current medical standards policy is not to screen for liver disease.  And, unless you are sick and have symptoms, insurance probably won't pay for the scan, even if you're lucky enough to have a testing system in your area.

The Fatty Liver Foundation is championing a nationwide program to provide liver screening services to make it possible for people who have a concern for their liver health to get an inexpensive scan.  Since insurance doesn't normally cover screening for people who aren't sick yet, it will be on a private pay basis.  However, as a nonprofit foundation, we believe we can deliver this service at an affordable price.

Click here to learn more.

If you would like to watch some very good videos about liver disease,

click here to take a video tour

About one million Americans have cirrhosis and don't know it.  When they are told "You have cirrhosis, I'm sorry but we have no treatment", the future that they imagined lay before them dies.  It is, in a very real way, a death of self. 

We all know that we will one day die but we hold a sense of how we think or hope our future will unfold.  There is a continuity that flows with the preceding events in our lives as a single journey. If you have no warning, as so many liver disease patients do not, and your first information is that you have cirrhosis, a probably terminal illness, the self that you have known dies.  The life you thought you were living no longer exists and a new unbidden and unwanted future is before you and you must find a way to reconcile yourself with that new reality.

We start with the fact that the fundamental problem is the bio-chemical flow between the liver and fat cells. When diet is poorly balanced, over time fat accumulates in the liver and by itself is rather benign but when other chemistries like insulin management begin to degrade you get inflammation which leads to fibrosis and if not stopped progresses to cirrhosis. Since there is no treatment your tool is diet and the question is to avoid anything that stresses the liver and load up on anything that is protective. Easy peasy right. Well let's take a look

• eliminate all alcohol
• eliminate most saturated fat and no red meat
• eliminate all non skim dairy products
• eliminate trans-fat and all hydrogenated oils
• eliminate all high fructose corn syrup
• eliminate most sodium -- the goal 1,500 mg of salt.
• eliminate all added dietary sugar
• eliminate processed grains, no white flour or white rice
• Avoid most products hustled by the supplement industry
• Make sure that any medications you take are not harming your liver

Oh my god. That is a terrible list. Not possible to live that way. OK, take a breath. The goal is to take as much pressure off the liver as possible, provide molecules from your diet that are protective and don't stimulate the stellate cells to initiate scaring, but still provide proper nutrition. So what do you do?

• For oil get 60 ml, that's 1/4 cup, a day of extra virgin olive oil
• Take one tablespoon per day of refined fish or salmon oil
• Don't buy prepared foods without reading the label, there isn't actually much that you can buy
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables but remember the salt limit
• Learn to like kale, lima beans, brussel sprouts, etc.
• Look for fiber like whole wheat bread no white breads and use brown rice
• Eat fatty fish like salmon at least a few times a week
• Eat skinless chicken or turkey and lean pork, fresh pork not processed like ham
• Explore new foods like quinoa as a grain
• Eat plenty of vegetable protein like beans.
• Take 400 mg to 800 mg of vitamin E
• Drink 3 to 4 cups of paper filtered coffee daily
• Eating on the road is tough as very little fast food is good for you
• Take 4 gm of BCAA in a vegetable smoothie or water at bedtime

You get the idea. you might call this a type of Mediterranean diet but the excess olive oil is specifically a source of unsaturated fat. The rest is mostly nutrition. The fish oil is to get a significant source of omega 3 oil to balance the omega 6 you routinely get in food. The salt limitation is good for you and lowers your blood pressure. The BCAA is a branched chain amino acid mix which is basically predigested protein and helps prevent muscle wasting if your digestion is damaged.

So why should you think this might work for you? Without getting too technical your energy systems are built around triglycerides. Any oil can be used by the body to make them but if made with unsaturated oil they are better for the body. More importantly olive oil is mostly an omega 9 fatty acid. Good olive oil is a complex mixture of around 30 oils and phyto chemicals which support liver function and soothe activated stellate cells which cools inflammation. Good olive oil causes a burning feeling at the back of your throat. Those are the phyto chemicals and more is better if you ever go to an oil tasting bar.  The omega 3 reduces the amount of inflammation caused by omega 6 and is required for good health even if you don't have liver disease.

Click here for a more general discussion about diets.

If you are interested in the science of liver disease here is a link to our educational videos.

DISCLAIMER: Be aware that I am not a doctor.  I cannot give medical advice.  I am a cirrhosis patient and I have apparently halted the progression of my disease following this strategy. You must not assume that this advice will necessarily apply to your situation and you must work closely with your physicians as your situation is unique to you.

Please note that everyone has different a different culture and diet preferences.  We cannot provide a diet plan that suits everyone so we offer you the general guidelines but each person has to look at their personal food choices and modify them to be as kind as they can to their liver.  There is no one size fits all plan.

• Liver disease is a silent killer
• Most people have no symptoms until it is very serious
• Many doctors don't view fatty liver as a serious risk
• Diabetes is a common indicator of liver disease
• There is no treatment for NASH
• It is a common killer of 45 to 55 year olds

You can use the same tools many doctors use to decide if you should ask your doctor to check carefully for liver disease.

Blood tests and screening calculators can't diagnose liver disease for you, but they can help you understand what your probability of having liver disease might be.

Most liver disease has no symptoms until it is quite serious.

A couple of useful screeners are FIB-4 and NFS.

Research has shown that the FIB-4 and THE NFS can be useful to help rule out advanced disease.  They can provide some guidance to help you think about it and suggest next steps. They don't prove anything about your diagnosis of possible disease, but they can be a guide to the next steps needed to arrive at a diagnosis.

The thing to know.

You can use your own blood tests to calculate either of these scores to help you understand your risks. 

Here is a chart to help you understand your score.

A NASH diet is very similar to a standard diabetes diet except that more unsaturated fat is used in place of resistant starches to ease the work load of the liver.

To learn more about the suggested diet click here

WHERE CAN I GET A FIBROSCAN?

The FLF is sponsoring a screening project to deploy 400 mobile screening systems nationwide. With a goal of screening one million patients a year. More information can be found below.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SCREENING PROGRAM CLICK HERE

We start with the fact that the fundamental problem is the bio-chemical flow between the liver and fat cells. When diet is poorly balanced, over time fat accumulates in the liver and by itself is rather benign but when other chemistries like insulin management begin to degrade you get inflammation which leads to fibrosis and if not stopped progresses to cirrhosis. Since there is no treatment your tool is diet and the question is to avoid anything that stresses the liver and load up on anything that is protective. Easy peasy right. Well let's take a look

• eliminate all alcohol
• eliminate most saturated fat and no red meat
• eliminate all non skim dairy products
• eliminate trans-fat and all hydrogenated oils
• eliminate all high fructose corn syrup
• eliminate most sodium -- the goal 1,500 mg of salt.
• eliminate all added dietary sugar
• eliminate processed grains, no white flour or white rice
• Avoid most products hustled by the supplement industry
• Make sure that any medications you take are not harming your liver

Oh my god. That is a terrible list. Not possible to live that way. OK, take a breath. The goal is to take as much pressure off the liver as possible, provide molecules from your diet that are protective and don't stimulate the stellate cells to initiate scaring, but still provide proper nutrition. So what do you do?

• For oil get 60 ml, that's 1/4 cup, a day of extra virgin olive oil
• Take one tablespoon per day of refined fish or salmon oil
• Don't buy prepared foods without reading the label, there isn't actually much that you can buy
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables but remember the salt limit
• Learn to like kale, lima beans, brussel sprouts, etc.
• Look for fiber like whole wheat bread no white breads and use brown rice
• Eat fatty fish like salmon at least a few times a week
• Eat skinless chicken or turkey and lean pork, fresh pork not processed like ham
• Explore new foods like quinoa as a grain
• Eat plenty of vegetable protein like beans.
• Take 400 mg to 800 mg of vitamin E
• Drink 3 to 4 cups of paper filtered coffee daily
• Be aware that eating out is tough as very little of it is good for you
• Take 4 gm of BCAA in a vegetable smoothie or water at bedtime

You get the idea. you might call this a type of Mediterranean diet but the excess olive oil is specifically a medicine. The rest is mostly nutrition. The fish oil is to get a significant source of omega 3 oil to balance the omega 6 you routinely get in food. The salt limitation is good for you and lowers your blood pressure. The BCAA is a branched chain amino acid mix which is basically predigested protein and helps prevent muscle wasting if your digestion is damaged.

So why should you think this might work for you? Without getting too technical your energy systems are built around triglycerides. Any oil can be used by the body to make them but if made with unsaturated oil they are better for the body. More importantly olive oil is mostly an omega 9 fatty acid. Good olive oil is a complex mixture of around 30 oils and phyto chemicals which support liver function and soothe activated stellate cells which cools inflammation. Good olive oil causes a burning feeling at the back of your throat. Those are the phyto chemicals and more is better if you ever go to an oil tasting bar.  The omega 3 reduces the amount of inflammation caused by omega 6 and is required for good health even if you don't have liver disease.

Click here for a more general discussion about diets.

If you are interested in the science of liver disease here is a link to our educational videos.

DISCLAIMER: Be aware that I am not a doctor.  I cannot give medical advice.  I am a cirrhosis patient and I have apparently halted the progression of my disease following this strategy. You must not assume that this advice will necessarily apply to your situation and you must work closely with your physicians as your situation is unique to you.

We start with the fact that the fundamental problem is the bio-chemical flow between the liver and fat cells. When diet is poorly balanced, over time fat accumulates in the liver and by itself is rather benign but when other chemistries like insulin management begin to degrade you get inflammation which leads to fibrosis and if not stopped progresses to cirrhosis. Since there is no treatment your tool is diet and the question is to avoid anything that stresses the liver and load up on anything that is protective. Easy peasy right. Well let's take a look

• eliminate all alcohol
• eliminate most saturated fat and no red meat
• eliminate all non skim dairy products
• eliminate trans-fat and all hydrogenated oils
• eliminate all high fructose corn syrup
• eliminate most sodium -- the goal 1,500 mg of salt or less.
• eliminate all added dietary sugar
• eliminate processed grains, no white flour or white rice
• Avoid most products hustled by the supplement industry
• Make sure that any medications you take are not harming your liver

Oh my god. That is a terrible list. Not possible to live that way. OK, take a breath. The goal is to take as much pressure off the liver as possible, provide molecules from your diet that are protective and don't stimulate the stellate cells to initiate scaring, but still provide proper nutrition. So what do you do?

• For oil get 60 ml, that's 1/4 cup, a day of extra virgin olive oil
• Take one tablespoon per day of refined fish or salmon oil
• Don't buy prepared foods without reading the label, there isn't actually much that you can buy
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables but remember the salt limit
• Learn to like kale, lima beans, brussel sprouts, etc.
• Look for fiber like whole wheat bread no white breads and use brown rice
• Eat fatty fish like salmon at least a few times a week
• Eat skinless chicken or turkey and lean pork, fresh pork not processed like ham
• Explore new foods like quinoa as a grain
• Eat plenty of vegetable protein like beans.
• Take 400 mg to 800 mg of vitamin E
• Drink 3 to 4 cups of paper filtered coffee daily
• Be aware that eating out is tough as very little of it is good for you

You get the idea. you might call this a type of Mediterranean diet but the excess olive oil is specifically a medicine. The rest is mostly nutrition. The fish oil is to get a significant source of omega 3 oil to balance the omega 6 you routinely get in food. The salt limitation is good for you and lowers your blood pressure.

So why should you think this might work for you? Without getting too technical your energy systems are built around triglycerides. Any oil can be used by the body to make them but if made with unsaturated oil they are better for the body. More importantly olive oil is mostly an omega 9 fatty acid. Good olive oil is a complex mixture of around 30 oils and phyto chemicals which support liver function and soothe activated stellate cells which cools inflammation. Good olive oil causes a burning feeling at the back of your throat. Those are the phyto chemicals and more is better if you ever go to an oil tasting bar.  The omega 3 reduces the amount of inflammation caused by omega 6 and is required for good health even if you don't have liver disease.

Click here for a more general discussion about diets.

If you are interested in the science of liver disease here is a link to our educational videos.

DISCLAIMER: Be aware that I am not a doctor.  I cannot give medical advice.  I am a cirrhosis patient and I have apparently halted the progression of my disease following this strategy. You must not assume that this advice will necessarily apply to your situation and you must work closely with your physicians as your situation is unique to you.

Please note that everyone has different a different culture and diet preferences.  We cannot provide a diet plan that suits everyone so we offer you the general guidelines but each person has to look at their personal food choices and modify them to be as kind as they can to their liver.  There is no one size fits all plan.