What should we advise MAFLD patients to eat and drink?

Abstract

In a time of food abundance and waste, and when sedentarism is the norm, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has become a major health threat in the Western world. While research is committed to finding a pharmacological treatment for MAFLD, it is time to go back to the basis and address the behavioral pathogenesis of MAFLD. All patients with MAFLD, irrespective of body weight, should be submitted to thorough dietary counseling. Diet is a learned behavior and should be addressed holistically and in a personalized fashion. The benefits of a suitable diet surpass an improvement of liver disease, having the potential to improve cardiovascularand cancer-related mortality, in patients with MAFLD. This review summarizes the current state of the art of diet on MAFLD, presenting straightforward recommendations for everyday practice.