You’ve seen the headlines: “Keto changed my life”, “No carbs, more energy”, “Cut all sugar and lose weight fast”. Low-carb, high-fat diets are wildly popular in Australia, from paleo to carnivore. And yes, many people lose kilos quickly. But at what cost? A growing body of research suggests that extreme low-carb diets, especially those loaded with saturated fats and processed meats, can damage your liver faster than moderate alcohol consumption. That’s a bold claim, but gastroenterologists are raising red flags.
Dr. Priya Sharma, a hepatologist (liver specialist) at Royal Melbourne Hospital, has seen a worrying trend. “Over the past three years, we’ve admitted patients in their 30s and 40s with fatty liver disease, inflammation, even early cirrhosis. They don’t drink much alcohol. But they’ve been on strict keto or carnivore diets for 12–18 months. Their livers look like the livers of long-term alcoholics.” The culprit? Excessive saturated fat and protein combined with near-zero carbohydrates. Here’s the biology.
Your liver’s job is to process fats and detoxify. When you eat a normal balanced diet, carbs provide glucose for energy. Fat is processed slowly. But on a very-low-carb diet, your body burns fat for fuel (ketosis). That’s fine short-term. But long-term, if you’re eating massive amounts of fatty meat, butter, cheese, and oils, the liver gets overwhelmed. Excess fat accumulates inside liver cells — a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). And without carbs, your liver doesn’t get the signal to regulate fat metabolism properly. The result: inflammation, scarring (fibrosis), and eventually cirrhosis.
