Research

Energy balance

A 12-month intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) inducing ~8% weight loss significantly reduces hepatic steatosis and prevents incident NAFLD in adults with type 2 diabetes compared to diabetes support and education (DSE).

For adults with type 2 diabetes, losing about 8-10% of body weight through a structured program combining moderate exercise (aiming for ~3.5 hours/week) and calorie-controlled eating significantly reduces liver fat and prevents the development of fatty liver disease. This benefit occurs even if liver enzyme blood tests remain normal, so relying on blood tests alone is insufficient to assess liver health.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
A 12-month intensive lifestyle intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes reduces steatosis and incident NAFLD.
Mariana Lazo et al. · Diabetes Care · 2010

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial (ancillary study of Look AHEAD) with objective imaging (1H MRS) and large sample size for the specific context, though limited by lack of histopathology.

Source

Effect of a 12-Month Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on Hepatic Steatosis in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

Mariana Lazo et al. · Diabetes Care · 2010

DOI 10.2337/dc10-0856

rct · n=96Cited 362×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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