Does spirulina improve nonalcoholic fatty liver disease?

    Written by:
    Wyatt Brown, Katie Jantz

    Fact-checked

    by:

    Nick Milazzo
    Last Updated: May 16, 2025

    Animal studies suggest that spirulina may help manage or prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but human research is limited. Some case studies indicate that spirulina supplementation can reduce liver enzymes in people with NAFLD, although ultrasound assessments have not consistently shown improvements.

    In animal studies, spirulina has demonstrated promise for the management or prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but more research in humans is needed to confirm this effect.

    In mice, spirulina has demonstrated the ability to both prevent and reduce the incidence of fatty liver in mouse models of NAFLD, although these studies have generally used much higher doses of spirulina than are recommended for humans.[1][2][3] In people with NAFLD, both a series of case studies including three people and an uncontrolled study including fifteen people found that spirulina supplementation significantly reduced liver enzymes. Nevertheless, ultrasound assessments didn’t consistently find improvements in NAFLD.[4][5]