8 Foods That Are Bad for Your Liver (and Why) - GoodRx (2024)

Your liver works together with every organ and system in your body. A healthy liver is important for digestion. It stores needed vitamins and minerals. Your liver keeps cholesterol levels in check and filters toxins from the blood. It even supports a strong immune system.

It turns out that what you eat has a big effect on how well your liver works for you. So, if you’re concerned about your liver health, it helps to know the most important dietary do’s and don’ts.

Why are certain foods bad for your liver?

What you eat affects your liver health in two ways. First, consuming too many calories can lead to excess weight. And extra weight — especially around the middle — is a risk factor for conditions, like metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes, which put extra stress on your liver.

Second, eating too much of certain kinds of food stresses your liver even faster. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is when too much fat builds up in the liver. It’s sometimes also called metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). That’s because it’s a form of liver disease that occurs with other conditions like:

• High blood sugar (prediabetes and diabetes)

• Metabolic syndrome

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

Some people have genes that make them more likely to have NAFLD or complications from it, such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). That’s when fat builds up in the liver over time and leads to inflammation. When NASH gets worse, the liver can develop scar tissue, known as cirrhosis. Sometimes, cancer develops in the liver, too.

You can’t change your genes. But changes in your diet — even small ones — can help keep your liver healthy.

What foods are bad for your liver?

A nutritious diet is the best way to keep your liver in great shape. Even if you’ve already developed NAFLD or NASH, good nutrition can keep those conditions from getting worse. It can even reverse them.

Let’s start by taking a look at foods that stress the liver. When deciding what to eat, here are eight types of food to keep to a minimum.

1. Fast food

It’s quick, it’s cheap, and sometimes you really crave it. While fast food isn’t an absolute no-no, most people in the U.S. eat too much of it. And other restaurant food isn’t off the hook, either.

Restaurant food tends to contain more sugar, salt, and fat than your liver can handle. A 2023 study found that people who eat fast food for 20% or more of their meals collect too much fat in their liver. And the damage is worse for people who have diabetes or carry excess weight.

2. Ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foods have been preserved, changed, or refined well beyond their natural form. Foods are processed or ultra-processed for a number of reasons:

• For taste or appearance

• To make them easier to mass produce and transport

• For a longer shelf life

• So they are convenient to prepare or to eat on the go

To spot ultra-processed foods, check the list of ingredients. If there are a lot of chemical names that are hard to pronounce, it’s heavily processed. And that means the liver has to process these additives and preservatives on top of the sugar, salt, and fat that’s in the food. Eating too many ultra-processed foods is linked to fat buildup in the liver.

Common ultra-processed foods include:

• Packaged cakes, cookies, and sweets

• Chips and other snack foods

• Packaged breakfast bars, rolls, and buns

• Ready-to-eat, microwavable, and instant foods

3. Sweetened foods

Some people have more of a sweet tooth than others. Sweet foods are also a common craving, especially when feeling stressed or tired.

Even when you’re not specifically seeking a sweet treat, you might be eating more sweetened foods that you realize. Many foods have lots of added sugar. When the body has to work hard to process these extra sugars, it puts stress on the liver. It can also lead to weight gain, which is a risk factor for NAFLD.

It helps to know how to identify added sugars on a nutrition label. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that fewer than 10% of your daily calories come from added sugars — but many packaged and processed foods contain more than that in just one serving.

The names of added sugars you might see on a list of ingredients include:

• Corn syrup

• High-fructose corn syrup

• Dextrose, fructose, sucrose, glucose, lactose, or maltose

• Brown sugar or raw sugar

• Fruit nectars

• Honey, maple syrup, or molasses

• Cane juice or malt syrup

4. Sugary drinks

Drinks with added sugar are bad for the liver for the same reason as sweetened foods. But sweetened drinks come with an extra risk: You won’t feel full as fast. So, it’s easy to drink a lot more sugar than your body needs.

Studies have shown that the more sugar-sweetened beverages you drink, the higher your risk for NAFLD. Popular drinks that often include a lot of added sugar include:

• Regular soda (not diet or sugar-free)

• Sports drinks

• Sweetened coffee or tea drinks

• Energy drinks

• Fruit drinks

• Sweetened water

5. Artificial sweeteners

If sweetened foods and drinks are too sugary, are diet or sugar-free items the solution? Unfortunately, the answer is more complicated.

Artificial sweeteners don’t provide extra calories. But studies on their risk for NAFLD have had mixed results so far. Some show that these sugar substitutes may not be good for your liver and may negatively affect the healthy bacteria that lives in your gut. That has consequences for your digestion and metabolism.

In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against the use of artificial sweeteners as a way to lose weight. The WHO also noted that there may be harmful effects when using them over time. Until more is known, it’s best to limit your intake.

Common artificial sweeteners include:

• Aspartame

• Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)

• Sucralose

• Neotame

• Advantame

• Saccharin

6. Refined grains

Refined grains are processed to change their texture, appearance, or taste. Foods made with refined grains also have a longer shelf life. But fiber and important vitamins and minerals are removed during the refining process. And when the fiber is removed, grains lose their benefit for gut bacteria, which is important for keeping your gut healthy.

When you eat refined grains, versus whole grains, your blood sugar goes up faster. You also might eat more because you don’t feel as full. These factors can increase the risk for fat deposits and inflammation in the liver.

Common foods made with refined grains include:

• White bread

• Cakes, muffins, and pastries

• Corn grits

• White rice

• Flour tortillas

• Foods made with white or all-purpose flour

7. Red meat and processed meats

Red meat and processed meats are high in saturated fat. Eating a lot of these foods is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and risk of fat in the liver. They’re also associated with some forms of cancer, especially colorectal cancer.

Foods in these categories include:

• Beef, lamb, and pork

• Organ meat

• Hot dogs and sausages

• Bacon

• Lunch meats

8. Alcohol

Drinking excess alcohol can also cause liver damage. And drinking too much along with eating the foods mentioned above can speed up the damage.

You are at a higher risk for liver disease if you consume the following:

• For men: more than 14 drinks per week, or more than 4 drinks at a time

• For women: more than 7 drinks per week, or more than 3 drinks at a time

• For people over 65: more than 7 drinks per week, or 3 drinks at a time

One alcoholic drink is:

• Beer: 12 oz

• Malt liquor: 8 oz

• Wine: 5 oz

• Liquor (whiskey, vodka, rum): about 1.5 oz

Can food help you reverse liver damage?

Now for some good news: Eating nutritious foods can decrease liver stress. And people who already have NAFLD or NASH can slow down the disease. You might even be able to reverse it.

The Mediterranean diet is a good place to start. Despite the name, this approach to eating can be applied to a wide variety of foods and preferences. Some of the liver-healthy elements of this way of eating include:

• Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables

• Fish

• Nuts

• Olive oil

• Whole grains

• Legumes (beans, peas, lentils)

Drinking certain beverages — including coffee, green tea, and lemon juice — benefit the liver. And drinking plenty of water helps your body’s metabolism, which will cause less fat to settle in the liver.

Certain herbs, spices, and supplements may also help to slow or reverse liver disease. Some of these include:

• Turmeric, especially when taken with black pepper

• Ginseng

• Licorice

• Dandelion

• Garlic

Even natural foods and supplements can interact with some medications, and some may not be right for people with certain health conditions. Talk to a healthcare professional before taking supplements or adding large amounts of herbs or spices to your diet.