GLOSSARY

Nutrition Therapy for Fatty Liver individualizes nutrition to the cause, stage and nutritional consequences of hepatic fat accumulation.

Steatotic liver disease involves hepatic fat accumulation, while steatohepatitis also includes inflammatory injury. MASLD and MASH are current terms within a classification that differs from the older NAFLD terminology. Alcohol exposure, metabolic factors, medications and alternative causes need assessment. Nutrition and activity can support management, but weight reduction is not appropriate for every person with liver disease. Advanced disease or poor intake may instead require preservation of muscle and prevention of malnutrition under specialist care.

Clinical nutrition translates assessment into an individualized intervention and evaluates the response. A disease name alone cannot define the prescription: disease stage, medication, symptoms, laboratory findings, intake and functional goals matter. Screening identifies possible risk, whereas a full assessment supports a nutrition diagnosis and care plan. A sports context adds training demands but does not remove clinical requirements. Coordinate care when medical and performance objectives interact instead of applying a standard athlete menu to every patient.

Weight management includes prevention of unwanted change, intentional change and maintenance. The appropriate goal follows health, function, training and the person's priorities rather than a scale target alone. Energy balance is dynamic, and the same intake change will not produce a fixed linear trajectory indefinitely. Use trends under comparable measurement conditions and assess well-being and performance. A plan should be revised when it produces persistent fatigue, deteriorating training or escalating preoccupation with food and weight.

Protein targets depend on body size, training, energy intake, age and clinical status. A high-protein label does not identify the actual amount, amino-acid quality or distribution. During weight reduction, adequate protein and resistance exercise can help preserve lean tissue, but neither removes the consequences of an excessive energy deficit. Kidney disease can require a different clinical approach. Do not transfer a healthy athlete's protein strategy directly to a person with impaired renal function.

Malnutrition can occur across body sizes, including in a person with obesity. Assessment considers reduced intake or assimilation, disease-related inflammation, weight trajectory and relevant body-composition or functional findings. Undernutrition, overnutrition and individual micronutrient deficiencies describe overlapping but distinct problems. A stable or high body weight cannot exclude inadequate nutrient supply or muscle loss. In an athlete, declining intake, recurrent illness or unintentional weight loss deserves assessment rather than automatic praise for becoming lighter.

Nutrition follow-up compares intended goals with actual intake, symptoms, function, relevant measurements and the person's experience. Specify the time frame and what would justify adjustment, continuation or referral. A treatment response can be beneficial, absent or adverse, and adherence alone does not prove effectiveness. Retain enough documentation to understand what changed. For an athlete, consider health and training quality alongside body mass or laboratory results so that apparent progress in one measure does not hide deterioration elsewhere.