Is your liver suffering in silence? All about fatty liver disease and how to protect your health
World Liver Day, observed annually on April 19, reminds us to care for one of the body’s hardest-working yet most overlooked organs. The liver works tirelessly every day, processing nutrients, regulating blood sugar, storing energy, producing essential proteins and clearing toxins from the bloodstream. Despite its central role in keeping us healthy, liver disease often remains invisible until it has already progressed. This year, the day must also become an occasion to correct one of the most common misconceptions in public health conversations: blaming fat alone for liver disease. The science is far more complex.
What is the most common cause of fatty liver disease in India?
India is witnessing a rapid rise in metabolic disorders, and fatty liver disease has emerged as one of its most significant yet underdiagnosed consequences. A recent global study published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology estimates that 1.3 billion people worldwide were living with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASD) in 2023, and this number could rise to 1.8 billion by 2050.
What makes this especially concerning is that many people with early-stage liver disease experience no obvious symptoms. “A person may feel perfectly healthy, continue with daily life and yet have fat silently accumulating in the liver. Left unchecked, this can progress to inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer,” Dr Saurabh Bansal, Gastroenterologist at Apollo Spectra Hospital and National Heart Institute, New Delhi, tells Health Shots.
Can dietary fat cause fatty liver?
Do high triglycerides cause fatty liver disease?
That said, the type of fat consumed still matters. Fats from nuts, seeds, fish, and several vegetable oils, with a good or balanced proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, such as mustard, groundnut, and palm oils, are recommended for use in rotation. Mustard oil contains omega-3 fatty acids in the form of alpha-linolenic acid, along with a favourable balance of unsaturated fats, which are known to support lipid health by helping maintain healthier triglyceride and cholesterol levels as part of a balanced diet.
Fats are essential for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, hormone production and cellular health. The focus should be on quality, quantity and overall dietary balance. This is where public health messaging needs to become more science-based. Demonising one nutrient often distracts from the real drivers of disease, primarily poor metabolic health and chronic overeating.
Healthy habits for a strong liver
The World Liver Day 2026 theme, “Solid Habits, Strong Liver,“ becomes most meaningful when translated into everyday habits. Protecting the liver does not require extreme diets or fear of nutrition. It requires balanced meals, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol intake and undergoing routine screening for blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Even a modest 5 to 7 per cent reduction in body weight has been shown to reduce liver fat and inflammation significantly.
At a broader level, India needs stronger awareness campaigns, clearer food labelling, healthier school and workplace food environments and an active lifestyle. A healthy liver is built through sustainable habits, not by fear of a single nutrient. It is time to move beyond myths and be guided by science, because the liver, though silent, remains central to our long-term health as individuals and as a nation.
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