A fatty liver diet should focus on losing weight and reducing excess body fat. Reducing excess fat intake greatly reduces the chances of fat accumulation in the liver. People with fatty liver disease (FLD) are generally advised to follow a 1200 to 1500 calorie diet. No more than 30% of calories should be made up of fat.
To put this in a more concrete way, we can do a little math to figure out how many grams of fat you should be consuming per day. If no more than 30% of a 1200 calorie diet is to be made up of fat, that means no more than 360 calories should be fat calories (1200 calories x 0.30 = 360).
One gram of fat is equal to 9 calories. Therefore, no more than 40 grams of fat should be consumed each day (360 calories / 9 calories per gram = 40 grams).
A 1200 to 1500 calorie diet should target high amounts of complex carbohydrates with limited protein and fat. This type of diet can help FLD patients lose as little as 2lbs per week. Here’s how this diet should be broken down.
- 6 ounces of protein (eat lean white meat like fish, turkey, and chicken or get protein from plant sources like beans)
- 4 or more servings of vegetables (greens, leaves, legumes, or others high in folate)
- 3 servings of fruit (citrus fruits rich in vitamin E and vitamin C are recommended)
- 5 servings from high starch foods such as potatoes or whole grain bread
- 3 servings of fat (try to stay away from saturated fat and opt for a limited amount of unsaturated fat instead)
- 2 servings of dairy (focus on low-fat and non-fat options)
It is important that no food is left out. Calories must be broken down and consumed throughout the day. For example, 300 calories for breakfast, 100 calories for breakfast, 300 calories for lunch, 50 calories for afternoon snack and 450 calories for dinner.
These numbers serve only as a guideline and are not set in stone. You may find it easier to eat less for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and have a few more small snack times throughout the day.
The important part of this type of diet plan for fatty liver is not to exceed the limit of 1200 to 1500 calories per day. Eat small, regular meals instead of one large meal at a time to prevent your body from going into starvation mode and producing fatty acids, which can cause more fat to be stored in the liver. For the same reason, try to lose weight gradually, a pound or 2 per week, rather than trying to drop dozens of pounds at once.
There are many diet recipes for fatty liver that will keep your taste buds from getting bored.
Source by D. J. Atterson
