Focus of World Liver Day this April 19 is role of diet in liver health
Global awareness day campaign aiming to educate public on liver diseases
Supporters are gearing up for World Liver Day on April 19 — marked by a global campaign to raise awareness about liver health and the rising global burden of liver conditions — with a focus this year on how a balanced diet helps prevent liver diseases.
The collaborative event is being run by the Healthy Livers, Healthy Lives Coalition, an international group of associations focused on the study of the liver and liver diseases. The effort serves to raise awareness about common liver conditions such as fatty liver disease and hepatitis — with a focus on disease prevention — and to increase visibility for rare diseases like primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).
This year’s theme is “Food is Medicine,” with a goal of educating the public that eating a balanced diet can help prevent liver disease and ensure proper liver function.
“Every sip you take and meal you make shapes your liver health,” the event’s webpage states. “Your liver deserves care at every stage – starting today makes a difference.”
Campaign offering ways to learn about role of diet in liver health
This year’s initiative is spearheaded by five organizations: the European Association for the Study of the Liver, or EASL; the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, or AASLD; the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver, known as ALEH; the Asian-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver, or APASL; and the Society on Liver Disease in Africa, called SOLDA.
These advocacy groups are offering a variety of ways for people to learn about the role of diet in liver health. All note that eating the best foods for liver health can help prevent, and possibly reverse, liver disease.
“Even years of damage can be reversed – healthy changes today can cut liver disease risk by 50%,” the webpage states.
An unhealthy diet, such as one including ultra-processed foods high in sugar and saturated fats, can be a strong risk factor for the development of some liver diseases. One such condition is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, known as MASLD. In this form of fatty liver disease, excess fat accumulates in the liver in the context of cardiometabolic issues such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Eating a well-balanced diet rich in fruits, veggies, and whole grains — along with exercise and weight management — can thus prevent MASLD from developing. For people who already have the disease, diet plays a key role in reducing liver fat and inflammation, possibly reversing early signs of liver damage.
While unhealthy eating is not directly a risk factor for other liver conditions, a well-balanced diet is still recommended to help support liver health and manage disease-related complications.
That’s the case for PBC and PSC, which are forms of chronic cholangitis, or inflammation in the tubes that carry the digestive fluid bile out of the liver. People with PBC or PSC can have problems with absorbing certain vitamins and nutrients, and an appropriate diet is also needed to prevent malnutrition and weight loss.
Supporters can use hashtags #World Liver Day, #FoodIsMedicine
In recognition that healthy eating is not equally accessible or affordable for everyone, a major goal of the campaign, per the EASL, is to advocate for policies that support nutritious food environments. That includes things such as dietary guidelines from the government, improved food labeling, taxes on unhealthy foods, and school meal programs.
Because these are things most individuals don’t have control over, the World Liver Day campaign encourages people to take achievable steps toward adopting healthy lifestyle changes that support their liver health and to raise awareness so that others do the same.
A campaign toolkit is available with materials for sharing on social media using the hashtags #WorldLiverDay and #FoodIsMedicine.
The campaign also provides various educational resources about which foods can benefit and harm the liver, and how a healthy diet plays a role in preventing and treating liver disease. This includes advice from a nutritionist and a book of liver-friendly recipes.
Practice the art of choosing and eating good food — remember, you are what you eat — and your liver will reward you.
Participants are invited to take part in a social media challenge by cooking a recipe and sharing a photo of it on social media on April 19, tagging @WorldLiverDay and using the event hashtags. The best entries will be featured on the event website and social media pages. Individuals are also encouraged to share any other ways they’re participating in World Liver Day.
As with last year’s initiative, a variety of other events will be held worldwide to support the campaign. Among them are walks for liver health, educational webinars, and free events offering things like hepatitis testing and vaccination, diabetes testing, and dietary lessons.
In a blog post supporting World Liver Day, AASLD offers five ways to support liver health, stating: “Practice the art of choosing and eating good food — remember, you are what you eat — and your liver will reward you.”
The World Liver Day activities are supported by industry partners Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, MSD, and Echosens.
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