Practical food guide
“Limit” does not mean you need a perfect diet or a permanent blacklist. The strongest current guidance is to make sugary drinks and heavily processed foods less routine, reduce foods high in added sugars and saturated fat, and build more meals from minimally processed foods.
General information for adults with MASLD/NAFLD. Your needs may differ if you have cirrhosis, diabetes, kidney disease, pregnancy, unplanned weight loss, an eating disorder or another condition affecting nutrition. Ask your healthcare team for individual advice where needed.
The quick answer
The 2024 European MASLD guideline recommends improving overall diet quality, limiting ultra-processed foods that are rich in sugars and saturated fat, and avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages. NHS guidance also advises a healthy, balanced diet as part of managing fatty liver.
That makes a pattern-based approach more useful than trying to memorise hundreds of banned foods. Start with the biggest repeat exposures: what you drink every day, the snacks you buy automatically, the fats used most often, the balance between minimally processed meals and convenience foods, and how frequently processed or red meat appears.
Six useful categories
These categories reflect current public-health and MASLD guidance. They are not a diagnosis tool, and they do not mean every item in a category has the same nutritional profile.
Soft drinks, sweetened energy drinks, sweetened teas and similar drinks can deliver large amounts of added sugar quickly and repeatedly. Current European MASLD guidance specifically recommends avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages.
Practical move: make water, unsweetened tea or coffee, or lower-sugar alternatives your usual drinks.
Biscuits, cakes, confectionery, many packaged desserts and some savoury snack foods can combine added sugars, refined starches, saturated fat and high energy density. The issue is the overall pattern and frequency, not one biscuit in isolation.
Practical move: keep whole fruit, plain yoghurt, unsalted nuts or other simple options available for everyday snacks.
NIDDK guidance recommends replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats where possible. Butter-heavy foods, fatty processed meats, some pastries and fried convenience foods can make saturated fat intake climb quickly.
Practical move: use olive oil or rapeseed oil more often and compare labels when buying packaged foods.
The European guideline notes observational evidence linking higher red and processed meat intake with MASLD risk. This does not mean everyone must become vegetarian, but processed meats and large frequent portions of red meat are sensible foods to make less routine.
Practical move: rotate in beans, lentils, fish, eggs, tofu or poultry according to your preferences.
White bread, refined cereals and similar low-fibre choices do not need to be banned, but NIDDK advises favouring lower-glycaemic foods such as most vegetables, whole fruit and wholegrains more often.
Practical move: choose wholemeal bread, oats, brown or mixed-grain rice and wholewheat pasta more regularly where they suit you.
Alcohol is not a food, but it matters in liver health. NHS guidance says not to drink too much and to remain within UK low-risk guidance; NIDDK advises minimising alcohol with NAFLD/MASLD because it can further damage the liver.
Practical move: if you already have liver damage, take medication affected by alcohol, or are unsure what is appropriate, ask your GP or liver team rather than relying on a generic limit.
Swap, do not just subtract
A useful limit only works if there is something realistic to eat or drink instead. These are examples, not compulsory substitutions.
Avoid over-restricting
People often assume they must eliminate all carbohydrates, all fruit, all potatoes, all dairy, eggs or every convenience food after a fatty-liver diagnosis. Current guidance does not support a universal blacklist like that.
Whole fruit can fit a healthy eating pattern; juice is different because it is easier to consume free sugars quickly. Potatoes and rice need context around portion, preparation and what else is on the plate. Eggs and plain dairy foods are not automatically foods to avoid. Convenience foods vary widely, so labels and ingredient lists matter.
See the companion Foods to Eat guide →In the supermarket
When two products look similar, the nutrition panel can help you compare sugars, saturated fat and fibre rather than relying on the marketing on the front. The ingredient list can also show whether sugar, syrups or refined ingredients dominate a product.
You do not need to turn shopping into a chemistry exam. A useful rule is to compare like with like: two breakfast cereals, two yoghurts, two sauces or two ready meals. Choose the option that better fits the pattern you are trying to build, then move on.
The Shopping List Builder gives you an editable starting point rather than a rigid prescribed list.
Next steps
The aim is not to spend all day thinking about restriction. Use these limits to make room for meals you can repeat comfortably.
Build the positive side of the pattern with practical food groups and meal ideas.
See how the food choices fit into the broader MASLD/NAFLD eating pattern.
Combine vegetables, protein and starchy carbohydrate visually without calorie counting.
Move from individual food choices toward a practical weekly structure.
Evidence checked 17 August 2026
We use these sources to describe general dietary patterns, not to prescribe treatment. See our editorial policy, evidence policy and medical disclaimer.