Two out of three adults with obesity have excess liver fat, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Many don’t know it.

Researchers told 13 people with overweight or obesity to eat foods that were either:

  • HIGH in saturated fat (like whole milk, cheese, and sausage) and in unhealthy carbs that can cause high blood sugar (like white bread, juice, and potatoes), or
  • LOW in saturated fat (like low-fat milk, hummus, and chicken) and with healthier carbs that don't cause high blood sugar (like oats, pasta, and whole-grain bread).

Liver fat levels were 28 percent lower after two weeks on the LOW foods than after two weeks on the HIGH foods.

(Unilever, which sells a variety of foods, partly funded the study and employed two of its authors at the time.)

What to do

Switch to unsaturated fats and healthy carbs like whole grains, fruit, and beans. Though this study was small, its results agree with earlier research.

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