Research
Energy balance
Obesity and insulin resistance are core drivers of NAFLD, leading to liver accumulation of triglycerides and free fatty acids.
Managing body weight and insulin sensitivity is the most critical step in preventing and treating NAFLD, as these conditions directly cause fat accumulation in the liver.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
NAFLD is a growing epidemic, not only in the United States, but worldwide in part due to obesity and insulin resistance leading to liver accumulation of triglycerides and free fatty acids.
Why this rating
Consensus statement in a major review.
Source
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: An expanded review
Mark Benedict et al. · World Journal of Hepatology · 2017
DOI 10.4254/wjh.v9.i16.715
narrative_reviewCited 750×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Gradual weight reduction through diet, with or without exercise, improves serum liver enzymes, reduces hepatic fatty infiltration, decreases hepatic inflammation, and reduces fibrosis levels in NAFLD patients.Good
- Resistance exercise improves NAFLD and may be more tolerable for patients with poor cardiorespiratory fitness who cannot tolerate intense aerobic exercise.Good
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