How to protect your liver from toxins: doctors name 5 healthy habits

The liver is our natural filter. Together with the kidneys, it neutralises the effects of our bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle to maintain the normal well-being of the whole body. But sometimes even its powerful strength is not enough to cope with this task. So time after time, it suffers from damage.

The good news is that the liver is one of our few organs capable of regeneration. But it needs help with this. Eat this, not that! lists five habits that, according to doctors, can protect the liver from excessive stress. Spoiler alert: one of them is to drink coffee.

Be careful about alcohol

Jokes about how alcohol affects the liver are not so much jokes. Alcohol is one of the main enemies of this organ. Therefore, a strong reduction in the consumption of alcoholic beverages, or even a complete rejection of them, can significantly improve the condition of the liver. According to Omar Musa, a bachelor of medicine, almost all people who drink heavily have fatty liver, which is the earliest stage of alcoholic liver disease. Usually, this condition has no symptoms, except for mild discomfort in the upper right abdomen or liver enlargement, which can be noticed by a doctor during an examination. At this stage, the disease is reversible and can be corrected by lifestyle changes. The most effective measure is to stop drinking.

Be careful with dietary supplements

We usually take dietary supplements quite lightly. It's just some vitamins or herbal extracts. In fact, the control over the production and sale of supplements is much weaker than over medicines, and your magic pill can contain anything. Including hepatotoxic substances. Even fairly innocuous ingredients in OTC drugs can be dangerous if taken for too long or in excess of the dose. You can check for harmful ingredients in your dietary supplements using this list. It is constantly updated and expanded.

Maintain a healthy body mass index

Overweight and obesity are closely linked to liver disease, so it's important to stay within a normal body mass index. It is calculated as follows: you need to take your body weight in kilograms and divide it by the square of your height in metres. If the resulting figure is somewhere between 18.5 and 24.9, this is a normal BMI. Free calculators can be found on the Internet. So far, doctors do not fully understand why excess adipose tissue in the body causes changes in the liver, but they have established for sure that losing weight can normalise the condition of this important organ.

Eat foods high in potassium

Amy Myers, MD, told the publication about studies that show that low potassium levels in the body exacerbate metabolic disorders, including liver fatty disease and type 2 diabetes. According to Myers, the optimal amount of potassium is 4,700 mg per day, but few people are currently reaching this amount through their diet. Meanwhile, this macronutrient can lower blood pressure, normalise cholesterol and is very beneficial for the liver. It can be found in leafy vegetables, herbs, broccoli, legumes, nuts, tomatoes and - good news - potato peelings. So baked potatoes in their skins can also be considered a healthy dish. The main thing is not to overdo it.

Drink coffee and exercise

Good news for those who like to indulge in coffee. Some studies have shown that patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease who drank an average of two cups of the drink a day had a reduced risk of developing fibrosis. However, doctors advise those wishing to resort to this aromatic method of therapy to take into account all the effects of caffeine consumption, including sleep disturbance.

Aerobic exercise also has a positive effect on the liver. This type of activity can reduce the amount of fat in its tissues. And with the high intensity of such training, it is likely to reduce the level of liver inflammation, even regardless of weight loss.

As OBOZREVATEL wrote, giving up dairy products can bring unexpectedly great benefits to the body.