Research

Hormonal

Regular physical exercise reduces liver fat and improves insulin sensitivity in NAFLD/MAFLD patients, independent of weight loss, by enhancing skeletal muscle metabolic flexibility and glucose disposal.

Engage in regular physical activity, such as aerobic or resistance exercise, to reduce liver fat and improve insulin sensitivity. You do not need to lose weight for this benefit to occur, although weight loss can help. Consistency is key, as benefits are lost quickly if you stop exercising. If structured gym time is hard to maintain, increasing everyday movement (like walking) can also provide metabolic benefits.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
exercise is capable of consistently reducing liver fat in a restricted yet significant manner... This effect was independent from changes in body weight... Physical exercise is capable of improving and maybe reversing IR... restoration of skeletal muscle fuel depots relies on provision from food sources, further contributing to relieve the liver from an overflow of potential nutritoxic substrates
Christian von Loeffelholz et al. · Biomedicines · 2021

Why this rating

The paper cites multiple randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses showing consistent reduction in liver fat, though it notes some studies have short duration or high dropout.

Source

The Role of Physical Activity in Nonalcoholic and Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Fatty Liver Disease

Christian von Loeffelholz et al. · Biomedicines · 2021

DOI 10.3390/biomedicines9121853

narrative_reviewCited 37×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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