“NASH,” which the U.S. National Institutes of Health describes as inflammation and liver damage along with fat in the liver.
Which exercises are best for reducing fatty liver?
An example of moderate exercise would be a brisk walk in which a person might be starting to get sweaty but can still hold a conversation with a walking partner, Stine says. Another example would be light cycling.
The following exercises are also great for reducing fatty liver:
- Aerobic exercise can actually cut the amount of fat in your liver.
- A heavy workout may also lower inflammation.
- Resistance or strength training exercises, like weight lifting, can also improve fatty liver disease.
“The great part of moderate-intensity activity, it’s really something anybody can do, even a sedentary population,” Stine says.
Fat in the liver ultimately leads to inflammation and can progress over time to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease or liver cancer.
How long it takes for the exercise regimen to work isn’t totally clear, but the studies in the meta-analysis ranged from four weeks to one year.
Stine suggests moving past being fixated on the numbers and toward becoming more physically active.
“Really just focusing on the activity rather than the weight loss is the most important takeaway from the study, in my opinion,” Stine shares.
Losing weight has been the cornerstone of management for NAFLD for a long time, and exercise along with dietary changes are an important part of that, says Dr. Ani Kardashian, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and liver diseases at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“But what this is suggestive of is that you can actually have some reversal of fat just with the exercise, even without the weight loss, which is great and it’s actually really great because it’s encouraging for patients,” says Kardashian.
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Why might exercise reduce liver fat?
Kardashian suggests it might be burning the type of fat that builds up around the stomach area, and that is more associated with fat buildup in the liver.
NAFLD is quite common, she notes.
“And the reason why it’s bad is, in the same way, that alcohol can cause damage to the liver through inflammation in the liver, fat can do the same exact thing,” Kardashian adds.
“My message to my patients is going to be that regular exercise can have a very positive effect on the liver. Even if you’re struggling with weight loss, it can still lead to the amount of fat in the liver going down or being reduced,” Kardashian concludes.