Virta Health study links low-carb care to 62% lower liver disease

Virta Health said its nutrition-focused remote care was linked to 45% to 75% lower rates of serious liver outcomes, and Dr. David Unwin singled out a 62% reduction in liver disease among clients using low-carb methods. The company said the peer-reviewed study was published in Hepatology on April 21, 2026, and compared people in Virta’s individualized, medically supervised nutrition program with matched patients receiving usual care.

That matters because the target is not a narrow niche. Virta said about one-third of U.S. adults, roughly 86 million people, live with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, including about 15 million with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. The company also said prevalence climbs sharply in people with type 2 diabetes or obesity, where as many as 70% are affected, and that MASLD, MASH, and advanced liver disease cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $100 billion a year.

The study adds another layer to the low-carb conversation that keto readers already know from blood sugar and body composition. Virta said the analysis was one of the largest real-world studies of its kind, and that it found lower rates of progression toward cirrhosis and portal hypertension. In plain terms, this was not framed as a vanity metric or a scale victory. It was presented as a liver-outcome story, with ketogenic-style nutrition moving into the same clinical space that usually belongs to diabetes drugs, specialist referrals, and surveillance for worsening disease.

The timing helped give the finding a bigger stage. Keto Live’s 6th International Conference ran June 8-12, 2026, in St. Moritz at Hotel Reine Victoria, and the event focused on ketogenic and metabolic therapies for prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases. Unwin, the award-winning UK general practitioner known for pioneering low-carb treatment approaches in type 2 diabetes, has long argued that fatty liver belongs in the same low-carb toolkit as high glucose.

Virta has already been making that case in smaller pieces. Its research pages have pointed to improvements in liver-related outcomes, blood pressure, inflammation, and weight, and the company has said greater weight loss tracked with better liver outcomes in one-year NAFLD results. The new liver study pushes that argument further: for keto’s medical case, the headline is no longer just lower glucose or fewer pounds, but a measurable drop in serious liver disease.