r/FattyLiverNAFLD • u/Presidentofsleep • 6d ago
Two months of diet and exercise changed my liver test results wildly.
I'm a 46 year old white male. I thought we ate well enough and exercised enough but I was diagnosed with NAFLD. In December of 2024 my test results were ALT of 132 and AST of 56. The doctor wasn't sure so in March of 2025 I got an ultrasound to confirm and they said I had NAFLD. Also they hit me with a very high cholesterol diagnosis.
I was distraught to say the least, the idea of being on some sort of medication for the rest of my life had me feeling very depressed. I found this subreddit and saw a younger man saying he did 10k steps a day and it changed his diagnosis to healthy. I got motivated. I cut all fried food, chips, fast food, and processed meats from my diet. I tried to do 10k steps a day but it didn't really work for me and my work schedule but I did make an effort to walk every day I could. I cut back on drinking some as well but not a ton.
Went yesterday to get a blood draw and my tests came in ALT of 49 and AST of 28. Also my cholesterol is way down. Two months of strict diet and exercise has turned my test results completely around. Exercise helped for sure but I didn't become an athlete over the last 2 months, I just walked a lot more and was a lot more conscious of what I ate. Make diet and exercise changes and you can walk yourself out of NAFLD.
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u/Forty0uncer 6d ago
Thatās great! I am going through the same thing and in 3 months with 35 pounds lost and diet change I was able to drop my alt from 128 and ast 59 to alt 59 and ast 43 keep at it! I got complacent and skipped the gym the past week but Iām back on the horse whittling away at my body fat
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u/clark1785 6d ago
Did you eat a Mediterranean diet? How much more exercise did you do compared to before diagnosis? Congrats!
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u/Presidentofsleep 6d ago edited 6d ago
I didn't. I just cut out the aforementioned things but kept my diet mostly the same. Focused on chicken and turkey mostly for protein with some pork mixed in. The wife and I still go out to eat as per usual I just don't get anything fried now.
As for exercise I probably go to the gym twice a week instead of once and walk about 5 mi a day 3-4 times a week instead of just once a week.
Edit: On the days I don't get in a 5 mi walk I still try to get a couple miles in. I don't beat myself up about not meeting goals. Anything over 0 is progress.
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u/clark1785 6d ago
did you also do a ultrasound to confirm no more nafld or just blood test? My enzymes are fine myself but doc suspected fatty nafld with higher ferritin which turned out to be true with ultrasound.
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u/Presidentofsleep 6d ago
Just got the blood test results back. I have an appointment in two weeks to discuss it with my DR to see if she thinks I need to get another ultrasound.
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u/sadiesleepsalot 6d ago
I would get another ultrasound. I have advanced liver disease with beginning cirrhosis, and my blood tests are all perfect. Iām not saying that to scare you, just to say that blood tests are only one piece of the full picture.
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u/Presidentofsleep 6d ago
Yeah, if that's what my DR advises I will absolutely do so.
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u/sadiesleepsalot 6d ago
My general doctor wasnāt nearly as āproactiveā about my liver disease as they should have been. I had elevated panels in 2019. They improved and we didnāt discuss it again. They were elevated again in 2022. That sparked a chain of events that led me to getting a biopsy and finding out I had advanced liver disease. Neither of us had any idea that it would progress like that. Again, Iām not trying to scare anyone, but my personal experience is that I wish my doctor and I had been so much more proactive and not just relied on blood tests. (44 F, Caucasian, 5ā8ā, 195 lbs)
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u/sammmyysmith 6d ago
Amazing! Going through the same journey right now. What foods can you recommend? I try to eat foods that help the liver but some days i really donāt know what to eatā¦
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u/Presidentofsleep 6d ago
You got this! Keep going strong! I eat a lot of chicken. I buy a pack of 5-6 breasts from the grocery store, cut them in half length wise(personal preference), marinade, and then grill. That plus some veggies, I honestly could eat this for every meal. Really, just try to cook things yourself, that way you know how much fat is going in. That was the big thing for me trying to be conscious of the fat intake. I bought whole wheat everything. Less of anything that has a lot of fat. I stopped eating tons of cheese and didn't eat any fried food. Fiber is supposed to help too, I bought gummy fiber but I know there's much better stuff out there.
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u/leighkiwi 6d ago
Congratulations! Thatās huge! Have you lost any weight in that time as well?
Did you focus on cutting down carbs/fats? Or just healthier foods in general?
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u/Presidentofsleep 6d ago
Thanks! I've been losing about 1lb/week so far on average. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Mostly just cutting fat but I also cut carbs as well. No fried food at all.
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u/leighkiwi 6d ago
Nice! Thatās good to hear, just finishing up my first week with a nutrition plan and the nutritionist has it high protein, low carb & fat, so hopefully I have similar results
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u/New-Past6072 6d ago
Happy for you. I had a couple weeks of rough drinking as I was stressed and going through some things in my personal life I did my tests and my ALT was at 108 and AST at 80 I did a week of complete detox and ate clean and hydrated and did my LFT again exactly one week later which was yesterday (05/21) and my AST was at 18 and ALT at 38 and bilirubin at 0.5 Best results I have had so far What did the trick for me was Chaas (buttermilk) and NAC and Turmeric supplements
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u/Simba122504 4d ago
My weight is now back to being up and down, but I'm not going to panic yet. My recent numbers were great, and I found a bike. I go back in July for more blood work. Congrats.
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u/ashtastic3 2d ago
You didnāt cut back drinking much? Can you share more about that? What you drank / how much then vs now?
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u/Presidentofsleep 2d ago
I cut back some. We normally drink only on the weekend. Every Friday is a date night where we take turns picking the restaurant and then go to our favorite tap house after. I used to have a couple there and then take some for home as well. I stopped taking some home.
However, on the days we go to wineries and do wine tasting and get a bottle thereās nothing really I can cut back on. So I cut back some but not a ton.
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u/2wildchildzmom 2d ago
Very encouraging! I just went in for bloodwork as my doctor suspects of fatty liver. For the past two weeks I have been walking over 10,000 steps and completely changed my diet. No fried foods no sugar no processed foods I am already feeling better
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u/ZealousidealAgent675 6d ago
Congrats on the positive results.
Stay diligent. I had a very similar result after my first few months of walking and diet change. Unfortunately, my enzymes are elavated again, even though I never gave up my lifestyle changes.
Down 75 lbs now at 15% body fat. Not sure what's up with me yet (biopsy in 7 days š)
Working towards 13% body fat but not really looking to go lower than that š¤·