Fat around your organs makes your liver store more fat and stops your body responding to insulin.

When too many fat molecules and inflammatory signals from belly fat reach the liver, it becomes less responsive to insulin.

Too much fat released from belly fat or made by the liver itself clogs liver cells, triggers inflammation, and makes the liver less responsive to insulin.

Eating a lot of saturated fat just once might quickly mess with how your liver and body handle sugar and fat, possibly increasing the risk of fatty liver and insulin problems.

Feeding rats a diet super high in fat leads to fat building up in their livers after 16 weeks — kind of like what happens in fatty liver disease. Scientists saw this through lab tests, scans, and looking at liver tissue under a microscope.

Visceral adipose tissue releases bioactive molecules directly into the portal venous system, exposing the liver to elevated concentrations of free fatty acids and inflammatory cytokines.