Delhi, On Friday, medical professionals underlined the vital connection between liver health and dietary practices, stating that making good adjustments now may reduce the chance of liver disease by 50%.

As the number of liver illness cases in the nation rises among both urban and rural populations, medical experts said that food is medicine ahead of World Liver Day, which is observed on April 19.

According to doctors, alcohol consumption is no longer the only cause of liver disease; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is alarmingly on the increase as a result of poor eating habits, obesity, and inactivity.

The importance of nutrition for liver health has been reaffirmed by a recent extensive research that was published in Frontiers in Nutrition.

Researchers who analysed data from more than 121,000 participants in the UK Biobank discovered that those who ate diets with elevated pro-inflammatory potential, as indicated by the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), were 16 percent more likely to develop chronic liver disease (CLD).

A lower risk of CLD was linked to adherence to anti-inflammatory dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet and individuals with high Healthy Eating Index 2020 scores.

“Just altering eating habits and enhancing nutrition may prevent around 50% of instances of liver disease. If we act now, we can undo the harm that alcohol, processed foods, bad diets, and sedentary lifestyles have caused to the liver,” said Dr. Sanjiv Saigal, President of the Liver Transplantation Society of India (LTSI).

The liver is remarkably self-healing, and with the correct lifestyle adjustments, even years of damage may be undone.

In addition to preventing liver illness, a diet high in fresh fruits, green vegetables, healthy grains, and lean protein promotes liver regeneration.

As medical professionals, we see miracles when patients adopt healthier eating habits: their energy levels return, their liver enzyme levels normalise, and their long-term health results dramatically improve. Reading food labels and minimising your reliance on processed meals is the first step, Saigal said.

A worrying connection between excessive fructose consumption from processed foods and the onset of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in obese children is highlighted by another recent research that was published in Nutrients.

According to the study, consuming too much fructose—which is often included in processed foods and sugary drinks—is linked to insulin resistance and increased liver fat buildup.

These results highlight how critical it is to cut down on added sugars in kids’ diets in order to fight the growing prevalence of liver disease in kids.