14 Possible Fatty Liver Causes

Have you ever heard of a condition called fatty liver? It’s a serious health condition of the liver that affects an estimated 80 to 100 million people across the United States – and it’s affecting more and more people as time goes on while scientists are trying to figure out exactly why this is happening. Fatty liver is also known as steatohepatitis, and comes in several forms – one caused by alcohol abuse, and the other known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the more common of the two.

It’s vitally important to spot fatty liver if and when it happens – it’s a condition that could be potentially fatal, and you might not even know you’ve been walking around with it raging in your body. Here are 8 possible causes for a fatty liver – and what you can do about it if you suspect that you or someone you know might be suffering from one.

1. Eating Overly Fried Foods

The name “fatty liver” might make you picture a grotesque, somewhat enlarged liver with pockets of grease and fat lodged right inside of it – and if that’s the picture that you have in your head, then you are more or less correct. The condition known as fatty liver is just that: It’s caused by the constant build-up of fat in the liver, which eventually builds up to astonishing amounts and manages to slow liver function down considerably.

This is where the symptoms of fatty liver kick in and cause weight gain, high blood pressure, and inexplicable weight gain – or loss – that have no other potential causes. It all starts with your diet, and if you are consuming food that’s high in the “bad fats” – like the greasy cheeseburger you know is bad for you as it stares at you from the plate – then you are putting yourself at risk of eventually developing fatty liver along with a range of other health conditions, including cholesterol and obesity.