Research
Energy balance
Achieving a weight loss of greater than 9% of body weight is associated with significant improvements in hepatic histology (steatosis, ballooning, inflammation) and insulin sensitivity in NASH patients.
To see actual improvements in your liver's structure (reduced inflammation and fat damage), you need to lose more than 9% of your body weight. Losing 5-9% will still help your blood sugar and liver fat, but hitting that 9% mark is key for reversing the active damage of NASH.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Comparing subjects who lost >9% of body weight (n = 16), to those that did not (n = 25), improved insulin sensitivity (P < 0.001), adiponectin (P = 0.03), steatosis (P = 0.005), ballooning (P = 0.04), inflammation (P = 0.045), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (P = 0.009) were seen.
Why this rating
Subgroup analysis of a randomized trial; while not a separate RCT, the stratification is clear and statistically significant.
Source
Orlistat for overweight subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
Stephen A. Harrison et al. · Hepatology · 2008
DOI 10.1002/hep.22575
rct · n=50Cited 468×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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