The effects of fasting diets on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Zeinab Mokhtari; Elham Hosseini; Azita Hekmatdoost; Natasha Haskey; Deanna L Gibson; Gholamreza Askari

doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuac092

The effects of fasting diets on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Nutr Rev. 2023 Jun 9;81(7):857-868. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac092.

Authors

Zeinab Mokhtari¹, Elham Hosseini¹, Azita Hekmatdoost², Natasha Haskey³, Deanna L Gibson³, Gholamreza Askari^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ are with the Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² is with the Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and, Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ are with the Department of Biology, University of British Columbia-Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ is with the Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

PMID: 36343094
DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac092

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in the world. There is no confirmed treatment for NAFLD as yet. Recently, fasting regimens and their relationship to NAFLD have drawn a great deal of attention in the literature. We review the current evidence that supports fasting diets as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy for patients with NAFLD and address potential action mechanisms. We reason that the fasting diets might be a promising approach for modulating hepatic steatosis, fibroblast growth factors 19 and 21 signaling, lipophagy, and the metabolic profile.

Keywords: Diet; Fasting; NAFLD; NASH; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Time-restricted feeding.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Diet
Fasting
Humans
Liver / metabolism
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / etiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease* / metabolism