Minimise sugar, carbohydrate and most vegetable oils in your diet.

These foods are what creates a fatty liver in the first place.  Most people with a fatty liver got one because they ate more carbohydrate than their liver could process.  Carbohydrate rich foods include sugar, flour, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereals, cookies, granola and grains.  The liver is very proficient at converting these foods into fat.  The other food that promotes the formation of a fatty liver is omega 6 rich vegetable oil.  Fried foods and packaged foods like crisps, chips, crackers and cookies are usually full of the wrong fats. Avoid foods that contain the following oils: canola (rapeseed), cottonseed, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, sesame and peanut oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are healthy fats. Animal fats are also healthy.

Base your diet on vegetables, protein and healthy fats.

These foods will keep you feeling full and will keep your blood sugar level stable throughout the day.  This is very important in order to prevent hypoglycaemia, sugar cravings, foggy head and fatigue.  Many people trying to lose weight actually don’t eat enough protein and fat, particularly women.  They are in such a rush to lose weight and want to reach their goal tomorrow, that they eat too little food.  This is dangerous territory because you will be at far greater risk of binging on all the wrong foods once you get tired and hungry enough.

When eating protein rich foods like fish, poultry or red meat, please eat a palm and a half sized portion.  Whey protein powder is an excellent source of protein that’s highly satiating. It will help to keep you feeling full for many hours and reduces the risk of sugar cravings. Please include good fats in your diet like olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and oily fish such as salmon.  People who don’t eat enough protein and fat usually crave sugar and carbohydrate.  There is an easy to follow eating plan in the book Fatty Liver: You Can Reverse It.

Find out if you have insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is becoming increasingly common and approximately half of the people who have it don’t realise because they haven’t been diagnosed yet.  See your doctor and ask for a fasting blood glucose test to check if you have diabetes. Insulin resistance is even more common.  If you have a large waist, then you have some degree of insulin resistance.  If you have a more advanced case of  insulin resistance, you have high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, low good cholesterol (HDL) and high bad cholesterol (LDL).  Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance make weight loss even more difficult because of the elevated blood insulin which is a feature of these conditions.

Eat plenty of fresh vegetables.

Try to eat as many different coloured vegetables as possible because the pigments in vegetables are antioxidants and they each have unique benefits.  Your liver and bowels need the nutrients in vegetables to function at their optimum. It is well worth adding raw juices to your diet, see the book Raw Juices Can Save Your Life for recipe ideas.