- Cutting sugar alone does not prevent fatty liver as multiple lifestyle factors contribute to it
- Sedentary behaviour, poor sleep, stress, smoking, alcohol, and excessive oil intake affect liver health
- Indian cooking habits often involve high oil use, deep frying, and calorie-dense meals
When people are diagnosed with fatty liver, the first advice they usually hear is to cut down on sugar. Excess sugar, fructose, refined carbohydrates and sugary beverages are known to contribute to fat accumulation in the liver.
However, according to health coach Luke Coutinho, sugar is not the only nutrient to blame. He says factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, sleep deprivation, chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels, smoking, vaping, ultra-processed foods, alcohol and constant snacking are often ignored.
The lifestyle guru also highlights oil as a major but overlooked contributor to fatty liver.
"I see fatty liver develop not because of one food, but because of chronic overload- when intake, stress, poor recovery, and low movement quietly outpace the body's capacity to cope. The liver is resilient, but it has limits," Coutinho writes in his Instagram post.
The expert says people tend to blame a single nutrient – fat, sugar, carbohydrates or oil – but real health problems are rarely caused by just one factor. "The problem isn't just ‘don't eat sugar' or ‘don't eat fat.' It's bigger than that," he notes.
Coutinho explains that fatty liver develops when lifestyle habits remain unbalanced for a long time. Cooking patterns, portion blindness, frequent eating out, physical inactivity, chronic stress and poor sleep all contribute.
Oil, he says, is often added generously in Indian homes, deep frying is normalised, street food is oil-heavy, and restaurant meals use far more oil than what is visible.
One tablespoon of oil contains about 120 calories, and many meals use three to six tablespoons. "Calories don't announce themselves. Oils, sauces, repeated snacking, late dinners, and weekend indulgences all stack up metabolically, even when meals are home-cooked or clean," Luke Coutinho writes.
While fats such as ghee, butter, cold-pressed oils, olive oil and seed oils can be part of a healthy diet, overconsumption can still lead to a calorie surplus, liver fat storage and metabolic dysfunction.
"The liver doesn't label fats as healthy or unhealthy. It responds to load," Coutinho says.
The health coach mentions that Indians are at high risk of fatty liver because of high-carb diets, high-fat cooking, low muscle mass, sedentary lifestyles, poor sleep and chronic stress. However, he emphasises that fatty liver is not limited to people who are overweight.
Nearly one in three Indians may have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, including around 28 percent of those with normal body weight. Indians are genetically prone to storing fat viscerally and within organs, meaning risk can exist even at a normal weight.
"Fatty liver is a lifestyle disease, not a sugar-only disease," Coutinho says, adding that the condition can be reversed.
He recommends measuring oil intake consciously, avoiding deep-fried foods regularly, prioritising protein and fibre, building muscle mass, walking daily, improving sleep, reducing stress, eating whole foods and developing calorie awareness. "The liver heals when overload stops," he concludes.
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.
