We found no guideline or trial showing that ghee is good for fatty liver. The only human trial we found, published in 2024, reported less liver fat in adults with fatty liver who swapped their daily ghee for rapeseed oil than in those who kept eating ghee. If you have fatty liver, follow your doctor's or dietitian's advice on fats first.
At a glance
- A 2024 randomised trial in the British Journal of Nutrition followed 110 adults with fatty liver for 12 weeks and found significantly less steatosis in those who replaced ghee with rapeseed oil than in those who kept eating ghee.
- The 2024 EASL-EASD-EASO clinical guideline says saturated fat has had a negative effect on liver steatosis in several short-term clinical trials.
- The same guideline links a sustained weight loss of 5 per cent or more with less liver fat, and 10 per cent or more with improved fibrosis.
- USDA FoodData Central lists 60 g of saturated fat in 100 g of ghee, a label-based figure.
- ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) advise adults generally to limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, or avoid it if possible.
What is fatty liver, and why is it now called MASLD?
Fatty liver is a build-up of fat in the liver. The NHS calls it non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and says it is also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). It is often linked to being overweight and usually causes no symptoms, so many people find out from tests done for something else.
The 2024 European clinical guideline (EASL-EASD-EASO) defines MASLD as liver fat plus at least one cardiometabolic risk factor, such as excess weight or type 2 diabetes, without harmful alcohol intake.
The NHS describes four stages: fatty liver, inflammation (MASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. It says most people only have the first stage, but a small number progress to more serious damage. Your doctor can tell you which stage applies to you.
What do doctors advise for fatty liver?
The NHS says healthy lifestyle changes can reduce the build-up of fat in the liver and help repair damage or stop it getting worse. It lists a healthy, balanced diet, regular exercise, losing weight if overweight, keeping alcohol low and not smoking. None of the fatty liver guidance we read names ghee, for or against.
The advice, side by side:
- Weight: the NHS says lose weight if you are overweight. The European guideline says weight loss in people with MASLD and overweight should aim at a sustained reduction of 5 per cent or more to reduce liver fat, 7 to 10 per cent to improve liver inflammation, and 10 per cent or more to improve fibrosis.
- Diet pattern: the European guideline recommends improving diet quality towards the Mediterranean pattern, limiting ultra-processed food, which it describes as rich in sugars and saturated fat, and avoiding sugar-sweetened drinks.
- Fats: the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) says a doctor may suggest replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, which it says may reduce the chance of heart disease in people with NAFLD.
- Activity: the NHS says aim for at least 150 minutes of exercise a week; the European guideline gives the alternative of 75 minutes of vigorous activity.
- Alcohol and smoking: the NHS says keep to no more than 14 units of alcohol a week and do not smoke.
The NHS also says to see a GP if you think you could have fatty liver.
What did the 2024 ghee and rapeseed oil trial find?
It found less liver fat when ghee was replaced. In this randomised controlled trial, 110 adults with NAFLD who ate ghee daily were split into two groups for 12 weeks. One group was advised to swap ghee for the same amount of rapeseed oil; the other kept eating ghee and was told to follow a healthy diet.
The trial, by Maleki Sedgi and colleagues at Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran, enrolled seventy men and forty women with a mean age of 42. According to the abstract:
- Steatosis fell significantly in the rapeseed oil group compared with the ghee group.
- The rapeseed oil group also saw significant falls in the liver enzyme ALT, triglycerides, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose.
- The same group lost 4.3 kg on average, and their waists shrank by 5.6 cm.
Three cautions. It is one 12-week trial in one country. The abstract does not separate the effect of the oil from the effect of the weight lost, and the European guideline says weight loss itself improves liver fat. And it compared ghee with only one oil.
A 2026 systematic review of randomised trials of animal-based foods in MASLD, by Jurek and colleagues in Nutrients, included this as its only ghee trial (its search covered 2020 to March 2026). It noted small changes in some liver enzymes within the group that kept eating ghee, but concluded that regular ghee may be metabolically unfavourable when it is not substituted with unsaturated plant oils.
How much saturated fat is in ghee?
A lot. USDA FoodData Central lists 60 g of saturated fat in 100 g of clarified butter (ghee), so 60 per cent of ghee by weight is saturated fat. USDA marks this record's figures as back-calculated from a product label.
ICMR-NIN's household measures put a teaspoon at 5 g. On USDA's figure, the arithmetic is simple:
- One teaspoon of ghee: 5 g × 60 per cent = 3 g of saturated fat.
- Two teaspoons: 10 g × 60 per cent = 6 g of saturated fat.
These are worked examples, not suggested amounts. ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians count ghee as a source of saturated fat. For adults in general, they advise limiting ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, or avoiding it if possible, and give no separate figure for fatty liver. Our article on whether ghee is saturated or unsaturated sets out the full fat split, and our guide to how much ghee per day covers the general limits.
The European guideline says saturated fat has been shown to have a negative effect on liver steatosis in several short-term clinical trials, and that the Mediterranean diet advocates reducing saturated fat.
What do animal studies show about ghee and the liver?
Animal studies of ghee and the liver exist, but a study in rats cannot show what ghee does to a human liver. We describe one only so that a reader who meets it quoted elsewhere knows what kind of study it was.
In a 1999 rat study from the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, ghee made up 0.25 to 10 per cent of the diet of Wistar rats for 8 weeks. In rats fed more than 2.5 per cent ghee, liver cholesterol and triglycerides fell. When ghee heated to 120 °C was the only fat, at 10 per cent of the diet, cholesterol oxidation products built up in the rats' livers.
What has been studied, and how strong is the evidence?
Very little, and only one study tested ghee in people with fatty liver: the 2024 randomised trial. The rest is a review of that same trial, a guideline's summary of trials on saturated fat in general, and a rat study. Each piece of evidence in this article, with its type and result:
| What was studied | Type of study | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swapping daily ghee for rapeseed oil, 110 adults with NAFLD, 12 weeks | Randomised controlled trial | Significantly less steatosis than in the group that kept ghee; that group also lost 4.3 kg on average | Maleki Sedgi et al. (2024) |
| Animal-based foods in MASLD, trials from 2020 to March 2026 | Systematic review of randomised trials | Included one ghee trial, the one above; concluded regular ghee may be metabolically unfavourable when not replaced by unsaturated plant oils | Jurek et al. (2026) |
| Saturated fat and liver fat | Clinical guideline, citing several short-term clinical trials | Saturated fat had a negative effect on liver steatosis | EASL-EASD-EASO (2024) |
| Ghee at 0.25 to 10 per cent of the diet, 8 weeks | Rat study | Liver cholesterol and triglycerides fell above 2.5 per cent ghee; heated ghee as the only fat left oxidation products in the liver | Kumar et al. (1999) |
Our article on ghee and cholesterol looks at the wider research on ghee and blood fats.
Should you stop eating ghee if you have fatty liver?
That is a decision for you and your doctor or dietitian, who know your weight, blood tests, medicines and liver stage. The guidance we read does not ban ghee. It does advise limiting saturated fat, and the one ghee trial found less liver fat when ghee was replaced with rapeseed oil.
Ask how much fat suits you, which oils to cook with and how your liver will be checked. The NHS says people with NAFLD should have check-ups at least once a year and tests every 2 to 3 years.
Himdhara makes ghee, so we have an interest in people eating it. That is why this article reports the evidence and makes no claim of its own.
The short version
We found no evidence that ghee is good for fatty liver, and no fatty liver guideline we read mentions it. The one human trial we found, a 12-week randomised trial of 110 adults, reported less liver fat when daily ghee was replaced with rapeseed oil, though that group also lost weight. Ghee is about 60 per cent saturated fat on USDA's figure, and the European guideline says saturated fat has worsened liver fat in short-term trials. The NHS and the European guideline advise weight loss if overweight, a better diet pattern, regular activity and keeping alcohol low. Follow your doctor's or dietitian's advice on fats.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Maleki Sedgi F, Mohammad Hosseiniazar M, Alizadeh M (2024). The effects of replacing ghee with rapeseed oil on liver steatosis and enzymes, lipid profile, insulin resistance and anthropometric measurements in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomised controlled clinical trial. British Journal of Nutrition.
- European Association for the Study of the Liver, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, European Association for the Study of Obesity (2024). EASL-EASD-EASO Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD). Obesity Facts.
- NHS (2025). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NHS website.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.