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Fatty liver disease (NAFLD, MASLD and NASH): the signs, the tests, food and weight, and treatment
For anyone just told they have fatty liver; anyone whose liver enzymes came back high or whose scan showed fat in the liver; anyone with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, high cholesterol or extra weight who wonders about their liver; and anyone told they have NASH or scarring. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says fatty liver disease is extra fat in the liver that is not caused by heavy alcohol use; that it is one of the most common causes of liver disease in the United States, in about 24% of adults; that it usually has few or no symptoms; and that most people have the type that typically does not cause liver damage. This page passes on, by name, what NIDDK says: the two types and who gets them, the tests, food and alcohol, and treatment, and what the FDA has approved since. It builds the words to say to a doctor, and prints a card to keep.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grounds, black, tarry or bloody stool, or sudden confusion, being very hard to wake, or fainting: call 911 (ours). Do not drive yourself. NIDDK says NASH can lead to cirrhosis, and these are the emergency signs on our cirrhosis page.
- Yellow skin or eyes for the first time, a belly that is swelling, or swelling in the legs or ankles getting worse fast? Call your doctor today, and if you cannot reach them, go to urgent care or the emergency room (ours).
- Drinking a lot every day and want to stop? Stopping all at once can make you very sick: ask a doctor or a free helpline to help you stop safely (ours). Free, private help.
More help
- The liver, on this site: Cirrhosis of the liver · Hepatitis A, B and C · Gallstones · An upset stomach: find the right page.
- The conditions that go with it: Prediabetes and insulin resistance · Diabetes · High cholesterol · High blood pressure · Heart, blood and hormones: find the right page.
- Day to day: When drinking or drugs are a problem · Food help · My medicines list.
- Care and costs: When you need a doctor and can’t pay · When a medical bill is too much · Get ready for your appointment.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
An upset stomach, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for throwing up, diarrhea, heartburn and constipation, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 17, 2026 on NIDDK’s Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) & NASH pages (NIH): the overview, Definition & Facts, Symptoms & Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment and Eating, Diet, & Nutrition (last reviewed April 2021), and the FDA’s news release of March 14, 2024, FDA Approves First Treatment for Patients with Liver Scarring Due to Fatty Liver Disease. NIDDK’s treatment page still says no medicines have been approved; that was true when it was written, and the page says so. Ours: calling 911 for vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grounds, black, tarry or bloody stool, or sudden confusion, being very hard to wake, or fainting, and not driving yourself; calling the doctor the same day for new yellow skin or eyes, a swelling belly, or swelling in the legs getting worse fast; that stopping heavy daily drinking all at once can make you very sick, so get help to stop safely; not stopping or changing a prescribed medicine on your own; that a high liver test does not tell you on its own what is wrong; that fatty liver is common and no one deserves to be judged for it; the questions to ask at a visit; health centers when money is tight; and the order of the steps. What we left out: brand names, the names and doses of medicines, weight or BMI targets of our own, research studies, and clinical pages for providers. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.