Western diet combined with binge drinking accelerates liver disease differently for male and females, new UVM study finds

Researchers from the University of Vermont found that a Western diet increased fat accumulation and oxidative damage in the liver, and that adding episodic heavy alcohol consumption further worsened disease progression. The findings reveal how common lifestyle behaviors can interact biologically to place greater stress on the liver than either factor alone.

MASLD is one of the fastest‑growing causes of chronic liver disease worldwide, largely driven by Western dietary patterns. While poor diet and alcohol use are well‑established risk factors individually, the combined effects of the two—and how they differ by sex—have been less well understood.

“These behaviors don’t happen in isolation,” said senior author Dr. Chris Skinner, assistant professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont.

Diets high in fat and sugar are often paired with binge drinking, particularly among young adults, and together they may accelerate liver damage more than either exposure alone. The study was designed to reflect these real‑world behavior patterns. “The ‘college diet’ aspect drew their attention at the beginning because it is a part of campus life,” said PhD candidate Ihsan Shawki Akili, who helped lead the research team.

In male mice, combining binge drinking and a Western diet resulted in more pronounced detriments in key liver measures than either factor alone, whereas females showed greater liver damage in response to a Western diet alone than to the combined exposure. These gender specific findings emphasize the importance of considering biological sex in liver disease research and prevention strategies.

By identifying how diet, alcohol consumption, and sex converge on shared disease pathways, the findings provide new insight that could inform future public‑health guidance and research aimed at preventing or slowing the progression of liver disease.

The paper, “The impact of a Western diet and binge drinking on metabolic dysfunction‑associated steatotic liver disease in male and female mice,” is published in Experimental Physiology, a journal of The Physiological Society