New Study Shows Snap Kitchen Meals Can Decrease Inflammation and Improve Memory in 2 Weeks

A recent imaging study from the University of Texas at Austin concluded that low carbohydrate and low calorie diets have the ability to reduce liver fat and improve brain health in patients with a specific type of liver disease. The study showed that diet changes can provide measurable benefits in just two weeks. This study independently selected and exclusively used Snap Kitchen meals, with no involvement from Snap in its design or interpretation. These findings give us a unique view into how meals like ours can support liver and brain health, decreasing inflammation and improving memory in only a couple of weeks. 

What the Study Found

• The trial enrolled adults at risk for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD – a long acronym for excess liver fat combined with metabolic risk factors) and imaged their liver and brain before and after 14 days on either a low carbohydrate (≤ 30 g/day) or low calorie (~1,200 kcal for women / 1,500 kcal for men) diet.
• Among participants who met imaging criteria for MASLD, liver fat dropped by ~3 percentage points (in only two weeks!).
• Brain markers of glutamate and myo-inositol (which have been associated with neuroinflammation or metabolic stress) also decreased significantly.
• The authors interpret this as evidence that MASLD is potentially a source of neurochemical dysregulation, and that diet can positively impact both liver and brain markers in a short amount of time. 
  

Why This Matters

1. It’s possible to improve liver health, and quickly. Many people think changes in liver fat require long months of dieting or weight loss, but this study shows that even a short-term dietary shift can move the needle.
2. Brain–liver connections are real. The simultaneous reduction in glutamate and myo-inositol in the brain suggests diet influences more than just the liver; it may alleviate metabolic stress in the brain.
3. It reinforces our mission at Snap Kitchen. Our goal is not just convenience or taste (though our meals check both of these boxes!), but food that will support your health and vitality, helping you reach your goals. 
   

Snap’s Role 

First, we think it is pretty cool that our delicious, chef-developed meals resulted in changes like the ones seen in this study. These weren’t lab-made meals or scientifically-developed for the study. They were the same meals you can purchase in our stores and on our website, the ones that allow you to enjoy both flavor and quality nutrition. If study participants saw meaningful changes, you can too!

Also worth noting is that none of the approaches used in the study were overly extreme, making the findings realistic for people wanting to adopt dietary changes to support their own health issues.  

What This Means for Snap’s Meals, and For You

• Snap’s meals can play a role in short-term metabolic resets, helping people jumpstart improvements in liver fat and related biomarkers.
• For someone dealing with elevated liver fat, metabolic syndrome, or “fatty liver,” choosing ready-made, chef and dietitian-developed meals could be the jumpstart you need (but always check with your trusted practitioner for tailored recommendations).
• That said, the study is short term (two weeks). Sustaining long-term benefits typically requires consistency, behavioral support, and sometimes ongoing dietary adjustments. 

We’re so encouraged by these results, and we hope you are too!