A nutritional study in the USA characterized the dietary behavior of patients with NAFLD. A questionnaire that lists 62 nutrition components was used to compare 1,782 patients with NAFLD with 16,768 healthy controls. Of these components, 24 were significantly different between the groups. Multivariate analysis identified five factors that were independently associated with NAFLD: African American race, male gender, obesity (BMI >30), low caffeine intake and low total water consumption. Caffeine therefore has a potential protective effect against NAFLD; further research is required to identify the mechanism.