As a doctor, I used to be confident I would be able to quickly notice when I fell ill.

In fact, on TikTok – where I post videos to my millions of followers – I often share tips about how to spot the early signs of serious diseases.

But, as it turns out, if not for my mum’s counsel, I might never have discovered that I had a potentially serious illness that, if left untreated, could have been fatal in the future.

My health issues started in 2018 when I was 28 and working as an NHS surgeon. My life was hectic, but I considered myself healthy by the standards of a young resident doctor. Or so I thought.

I regularly exercised at the gym, didn’t smoke, and seldom drank alcohol. Additionally, I believed I followed a healthy diet, focusing on protein-rich foods to build the muscle mass I aimed to gain from the gym.

Apart from the typical fatigue from demanding night shifts, I felt fine. I’d never been hospitalized as a patient in my life, and I had no symptoms suggesting that I would be anytime soon.

However, everything changed when a friend suggested I have a cholesterol blood test. These tests are an easy way to find out how much fatty plaque, which can cause heart attacks and strokes, is accumulating in the blood vessels.

They are not, as standard practice, handed out by GPs to seemingly healthy young people. But my friend, also a doctor, had decided to pay for one to find out his score, and he suggested I do the same.

I was curious, though not particularly worried. So I took the test – and the results changed my life. 

My cholesterol was significantly raised. In particular, my low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – the so-called ‘bad cholesterol’ – was concerningly high, meaning I was at-risk of heart problems later in life.

But this was only the beginning. 

When I told my mum, another doctor, she said I needed to get a liver function test too, because the health of the liver is directly linked with cholesterol. Too much can trigger fatty liver disease – a symptomless, deadly condition on the rise in the UK.

Now, growing increasingly alarmed, I decided to pay for an ultrasound scan of my liver. The results revealed exactly what my mum had feared.

It clearly showed the early stages of liver damage. The organ was beginning to stiffen – the first step towards dangerous permanent scarring. To say I freaked out would be an understatement.

Doctors famously make terrible patients. I was no different, imagining I could fall severely ill and perhaps even die young.

But fast forward to today, and I’m pleased to say I was able to find a way to reverse all the damage to my liver. I’m now disease-free – and the solution was making a major, if unexpected, change to my diet.

All I needed to do was boost my intake of an affordable and unfashionable nutrient: fibre. And if you do the same, you could reduce your risk of liver disease – not to mention a number of other serious, deadly conditions too.

But before we get to that, it might be helpful to explain what exactly is fatty liver disease.

The condition, also known as metabolic steatotic liver disease, is thought to affect up to 15 million Britons. While most people associate it with heavy drinking, this form is not linked to alcohol consumption. Instead, it occurs when excess fat builds up in the organ, which cleans the blood of toxins and waste.

And due to spiralling rates of obesity in the UK, fatty liver disease is on the rise. 

Worryingly, around four in five of those affected remain undiagnosed. This is because in the early stages the disease has no obvious symptoms. As it advances, and the liver begins to scar, patients may experience fatigue, weight changes, abdominal pain and even yellowing skin and eyes, known as jaundice.

Eventually, patients may require a transplant – or face the risk of organ failure and death.

Usually, patients with fatty liver disease will be advised to improve their lifestyle. This typically involves cutting out processed and fatty foods, such as burgers, chips, and pizza, as well as snacks like biscuits and crisps.

Studies show that regular exercise can also help combat liver disease, as it helps burn excess fat that would otherwise end up in the organ. 

Patients are also advised to quit drinking alcohol as it can further weaken the liver.

But in my case, things seemed less straightforward. After all, as a doctor, I thought I knew about these risks – and this was already largely my lifestyle. What else could I possibly do to combat my liver disease?

The answer, as I found out, was a lot.

Soon after my diagnosis, I went to see my friend, a dietician, to work out where I was going wrong. She convinced me to start a food diary, which involves recording everything you eat.

When I returned with my notes, she was shocked by what she saw.

As I mentioned earlier, at the time I had been trying to maintain a high-protein diet. However, the sources of protein I was consuming weren’t good for my liver – or my heart.

Meat, like chicken and beef, may be packed with protein, but they are also high in saturated fat – the form that drives LDL cholesterol. And I was eating these meats almost every day.

My dairy intake was equally high, as I believed milk and cheese were also great sources of protein. But they were also adding to the worrying amount of saturated fat I was consuming.

However, she also told me there was an important element missing from my diet: fibre.

It’s fair to say that fibre has a dull public image. While protein is presented as the nutrient that boosts muscles and tones abs, many people who hear about fibre might think of 1980s slimming clubs and tasteless diet cereals.

But growing research shows that fibre is one of the most important nutrients for a healthy body.

A form of carbohydrate, fibre is found naturally in plants, from fruits and vegetables to legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains such as oats and spelt.

It plays a vital role in keeping the digestive system running smoothly. But evidence also shows that getting enough fibre can transform your health – helping to stabilise blood sugar, reduce inflammation and improve everything from metabolic health and weight, to mood and skin.

Multiple studies even highlight its significant role in lowering the risk of serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and a range of cancers.

Fibre also appears to act on the same hunger-relating pathways in that brain as weight-loss drugs, by switching off appetite and curbing cravings. It’s no wonder that many people online refer to it as ‘nature’s Ozempic’.

Yet despite this multitude of health benefits, barely any of us in Britain are eating enough fibre. Government guidance states adults should consume 30g of fibre a day. Yet according to research, just four per cent of us eat this much.

And as I learned from my dietician friend, I wasn’t either. Most days, I was getting no more than 10g of fibre – just a third of what I should have been eating. The majority of it was from bread, which doesn’t contain nearly enough of the nutrient.

Consistently eating this little fibre can trigger a deficiency which can lead to a host of symptoms, including bloating, constipation and brain fog. But in my case, my fibre deficiency had reached a chronic, more advanced state, contributing to my liver disease in a way that even I, as a doctor, did not realise.

A high-fibre diet can help lower cholesterol levels. The mechanism is fascinating.

One of the key functions of the liver is the production of bile acids, which enter the gut and break down food, allowing the body to absorb crucial vitamins and nutrients. These acids are made from cholesterol.

Studies show that, when fibre binds to bile acids, more of these chemicals are excreted in the stool. When this happens, the liver pulls more cholesterol out of the bloodstream to replace the lost acids, which, in turn, leads to lower LDL levels.

Fibre also has a second superpower in feeding your gut microbes – the trillions of bacteria and other ‘friendly’ microbes in the stomach.

When these microbes ferment fibre, they produce what are called short-chain fatty acids. These compounds improve the health of the gut, but they also dial down inflammation across the body and help regulate how the liver handles fats and sugars. 

In fact, several studies suggest short-chain fatty acids can reduce fat build-up in the liver, offering protection against fatty liver disease.

For starters, I cut down on the amount of meat I consumed and instead focused on eating more fibre-rich vegetables, like aubergines, avocado, kale, spinach and broccoli, and pulses, like lentils, chickpeas and butter beans.

And while this meant that my protein intake did fall – from around 200 grams a day to 120 – I found that there were plenty of plant-based foods which contained good quantities of both protein and fibre. These include chia seeds, edamame beans, peas and nuts. They became staples that I would add to most meals or snacks, like smoothies or yogurts.

And cooking with these ingredients, I found, didn’t necessarily have to be time-consuming or mean going out to the shop constantly to buy fresh produce. I began storing bags of chopped vegetables and fruit in my freezer, which I could add to a stir-fry or a smoothie.

I also learned there were a number of fibre-rich foods that most people wouldn’t typically consider to be healthy (see panel below).

All told, within a year I had managed to radically change my diet. While I didn’t completely cut out animal products, I’d say 95 per cent of what I ate was plant-based.

And, I’m relieved to say, it made a difference. I went for another liver scan, which revealed that all signs of my liver disease were gone.

This is the amazing thing about the liver. Unlike our other organs, it is capable of healing itself. So as long as issues are caught early, most people are able to reverse their liver problems.

However, I am very conscious of the fact that I’m one of the lucky ones. I had the privilege of time, resources, and expert guidance to overhaul my diet and slowly reverse the damage. But most people don’t. 

Not everyone can spend hours in the kitchen batch-cooking lentils and greens. Not everyone can juggle three balanced meals a day in between work, family and the rest of life.

And while there are fibre supplements available, most of these are expensive and are filled with artificial ingredients like additives and bulking agents. Many of them are also, frankly, unpleasant to consume, with a consistency close to that of frogspawn.

That’s why I decided to create my own fibre supplement, called LOAM Science. Each serving delivers 10g of a blend of multiple fibres, which studies show provides the best boost to gut health.

It’ll be cheaper than existing supplements and, crucially, much more pleasant to consume. All you’ll need to do is add a scoop to water, yogurt or a smoothie, and it’ll completely dissolve. LOAM will be available from next month and I hope it can help people improve their diet just as I did.

Liver disease is a growing crisis for the NHS and it’s a condition that millions of people currently live with without realising it. That’s why it’s important that we all make lifestyle changes now like cutting down on fatty food and boosting our fibre intake.

If you do then, hopefully, you won’t have a nasty shock like I did – or have to rely on your mum for medical advice.

GUILTY PLEASURES THAT ARE SURPRISING SOURCES OF FIBRE 

When many people think of fibre, their first thoughts might go straight to foods such as root vegetables or granola.

These foods may be packed with healthy nutrients but they are not always, let’s admit it, the tastiest of options.

However, over the past few years, as I’ve learned more about the importance of fibre, I have also discovered that some of the snacks that we might usually consider guilty pleasures are also rich in the essential nutrient.

Take dark chocolate – a classic after-dinner treat.

Chocolate that contains more than 70 per cent cocoa is filled with fibre. Four squares will provide around 5g of fibre – about a sixth of the daily recommended intake – which is approximately equivalent to one serving of oats or broccoli.

Another surprising source of fibre is popcorn.

Three cups of popcorn, roughly the same size as a standard cereal bowl filled to the brim, contains around 4g of fibre – which is about the same as an apple.

However, this does not mean that people should consume huge quantities of dark chocolate and popcorn.

Both items are also relatively high in fat, particularly popcorn that has been prepared in oil, as it often is at cinemas.

But in small amounts, they are great fibre-rich snacks that can help you reach your recommended fibre intake.