The liver is an important organ of our body that filters the blood and cleanses it of all harmful substances. Very often we eat, take medications, alcohol, smoke and do not think that all this destroys our liver.
The main enemy of the liver is fat. The liver produces bile, which helps digest and break down fats. If there are a lot of them with food, it is difficult for the liver to cope with this. It is especially difficult for her if a person eats too much at night. Fats are not burned, but are deposited, including in and around the liver. Over time, there are more and more fat islands, they partially replace normal liver cells (hepatocytes). As a result, the risk of atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and cirrhosis of the liver increases.
Fatty liver disease is a diagnosis heard by almost every second person over the age of 40 who comes for a routine ultrasound. It’s not pleasant, of course, but you shouldn’t get upset. The liver is able to perform its functions properly, even if only 20% of its cells remain “in shape”. The liver is able to repair itself and is ready to forgive you for decades of inattention to it. It’s just that from now on it’s worth rethinking your lifestyle and becoming a friend to her.
The greatest harm to the liver is caused by lard, pork, mutton, duck, goose and other fatty meats. Strong broths are also on the blacklist. But even if you’re a vegetarian, you also have every chance of killing your liver.
Sand Vegetarians are especially at risk. An oily fish is one that contains at least 8% fat. This group includes herring, mackerel, sturgeon, halibut, eel, etc. Some varieties of fish can be twice as high in calories as pork. Given the quality of the products and the contamination of the seas and oceans, fish liver should be consumed with caution — this organ accumulates toxins. The liver of river fish is usually infected with liver fluke (opisthorchis), echinococcus, clonorhosis, and other types of worms that live in the liver. They can be picked up by eating poorly processed fish. In addition, seafood contains mercury, which destroys the liver. It is better to abandon them, at least from those types of fish (mostly marine: tuna, swordfish), which have a high content of mercury.
Lactovegetarians kill the liver with butter, chocolate, cocoa, sweet pastries, greasy cakes and cakes. The carcinogens that are produced when the oil is subjected to heat treatment are a real torture for the liver.
Refined carbohydrates impair liver function. If you do not want to finish off your liver, it is better to exclude all types of refined grain products and sugar from the diet. Limit your intake of white bread, pasta, pancakes, pies, cakes, and other products made from white flour and sugar.
Vegans and raw foodists disable the liver with the help of vegetables with a pungent taste – radish, radish, garlic, wild garlic, as well as sour berries, vegetables and fruits – cranberries, kiwi, sorrel. Pickled vegetables, pickles, smoked meats, mustard, vinegar, horseradish, and spicy ketchup in excessive quantities will also not benefit. The liver treats acid and alkali in the same way as it treats poisons. The liver considers spicy and burning dishes to be toxins and tries to neutralize them. Upon discovering them, the liver secretes a double dose of bile in order to quickly break down these harmful substances. And the resulting excess of bitter liquid often stagnates in the liver ducts, where stones form. In just six months, a tiny grain of sand can turn into a stone with a diameter of a centimeter.
In moderation, herbal products with choleretic effects (garlic, radish and turnip, arugula, mustard) have a beneficial effect on a healthy liver.
Turmeric seasoning is an excellent hepatoprotector. Raw cucumbers and greens are good for the liver. The shells of any vegetables and fruits contain bitterness, which have a choleretic effect. There is also bitterness in the orange and lemon zest. But if you lean on tomatoes for three consecutive summer months, eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then the liver can rebel. “It is tomatoes that cause exacerbations of liver and gallbladder diseases in autumn, and promote stone formation,” comments Olga Soshnikova, a gastroenterologist. “So you have to be careful with Mr. tomato, especially for those who have some problems.”
Many vegetarians consume incompatible foods without paying much attention to it. For example, you can’t eat cucumbers and tomatoes in a salad. After all, cucumbers are alkaline foods, and tomatoes are acidic. When they are mixed, the formation of salts occurs. If you want to stay healthy, you should not eat protein foods (meat, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, cheese) that require acidic enzymes for their digestion, and foods containing carbohydrates (bread, cereals, potatoes, sugar, sweets) that require alkaline enzymes.
It is dangerous for the liver to eat borscht or porridge made yesterday, because it is not fresh food. If food is stored in metal dishes, it becomes saturated with compounds harmful to the liver. Mushrooms, including edible ones, contain a huge amount of harmful substances and are difficult to digest, they also contribute to the destruction of the liver. It is also harmful for the liver to eat very hot food and drink hot tea, as well as to sunbathe, overheat the body in hot weather, near the stove or marten, dressing too warmly.
Hypothermia and a sedentary lifestyle also harm the liver. They say it all starts with hemorrhoids, which is the first sign of liver problems.
Modern ecology deals a severe blow to the liver of every person. It’s hard to imagine how much exhaust fumes, heavy metals, and other harmful compounds are in the air. Naturally, all these toxins enter the bloodstream, and from there they enter our main filter. The liver can get sick if you often inhale smoke, fumes of gasoline, kerosene, paints, varnishes. If you decide to renovate your home, give preference to eco-friendly materials.
Everyone knows that modern products contain food additives. Fast food is especially harmful in this regard. Food products with E marks on their labels are a powerful blow to the liver, it cannot overpower this invasion of foreign chemicals and toxins.
The liver has a unique property – it produces an enzyme that breaks down alcohol. But the ability to educate him is not unlimited. And if you lose your sense of proportion, there comes a time when the liver’s strength is exhausted. And alcohol begins to “take over”. The result is cirrhosis and other liver diseases. Alcohol dependence also causes gastritis, pancreatitis, brain and heart damage.
The male liver is able to withstand a lot, while the hormonal background of women is prone to liver diseases. Estrogens, the main female hormones, slow down blood circulation and liver function. And for women taking oral contraceptives with estrogens, the burden is even higher.
Taking medications is the surest way to kill the liver quickly. Doctors prescribe chemicals that are foreign to the body, without taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient. Passing through the main filter, the liver, they clog the smallest vessels. And even then, the problem arises – how to get them out of there. According to the results of American nationwide studies, expensive and dangerous antibiotics are constantly prescribed to 44% of children and 51% of adults for the treatment of diseases caused by viruses that are completely insensitive to antibiotics – colds in practically healthy children and adults go away within a week with or without the use of an antibiotic.
A group of researchers from the Harvard University Medical Department concluded that about 200 out of every 1,000 hospitalized patients take medications only to harm themselves. From 3 to 5% of all hospital admissions are caused by side effects of medications. 10 times more patients die from this than from surgical errors. According to American scientists, from drugs (not from diseases!) About 200,000 people die per year in the United States. Mortality in the most severe manifestations of drug intolerance, such as anaphylactic shock, acute widespread bullous dermatoses, ranges from 20 to 70%. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Society (Journal of the American Medical Society), drug addiction is the cause of various serious illnesses in 2.2 million U.S. citizens per year.
According to the World Health Organization, about 30% of chronic diseases are associated with taking various medications.
Drugs such as paracetamol, papaverine, aminosalicylic acid, androgens, butadione, ibuprofen, levomycitin, penicillin, oral contraceptives, sulfonamides, tetracyclines, phenobarbital, estrogens, often cause liver damage.
Rezulin, registered as a drug for diabetics, was marketed between 1997 and 2000. It was withdrawn from sale after 63 deaths of patients from liver diseases caused by taking the drug were reported.
It is dangerous to give aspirin to children under 15 years of age, because at this age, in combination with a viral infection, it provokes Reye’s syndrome – fatty liver infiltration and brain damage.
Recent studies have shown that paracetamol can cause the development of fulminant hepatitis, which is characterized by rapid development and leads to death. In England, paracetamol is the cause of 52% of cases of this fatal disease, in Spain – 42%. First of all, negative effects are caused by drugs whose therapeutic concentration is close to toxic. These include gentamicin, novocainamide, as well as drugs that have the ability to accumulate in the body.
