Our livers are essential for us to live a relatively safe and normal life. Among its many functions are bile production, waste and fat management, protein production, glucose regulation, hemoglobin and iron processing, blood cleansing, blood regulation, and immunity building.

The holidays can really do some liver damage though if you don’t wisen up. The heavenly amount of food on the table, pouring alcohol, the sedentary days of rest – these can take a toll on anyone. Some damages can be temporary. However, if left unchecked, some damages can become permanent. These can eventually lead to conditions like cirrhosis and even liver failure. It’s a bit extreme but entirely possible if you don’t take the necessary steps to get yourself back to optimal health after the Christmas chow down.

Here are a few tips to help revive your liver right after the holidays:

Check Your Diet

It’s a bit cliche but part of taking good care of yourself is by having a good diet. And if your liver’s on top of your priority list, you probably would want to cut down on your sugar and starchy edibles like potatoes and bread. These types of food are processed into glucose which is then stored in the liver. This means staying away from fizzy drinks like soda too. So, any of these consumed in excess will cause your liver to go into overdrive to compensate.

Some foods that will do your liver good are Artichokes and beetroot. Artichokes are known to help stimulate and improve liver function. Meanwhile, beetroot is used to support liver detoxification. Additionally, food like turkey, egg yolks, and peanuts contain Choline which can boost liver function. However, if you already have liver problems and you really want to get it back on track, a low-­carb diet has also proven to improve liver function, especially in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Coffee Break

It’s hard to believe that coffee can help our liver function better since it’s had some bad rap throughout the years. But Coffee can actually be good for the liver if it’s taken in moderation. When caffeine is processed by your body, it produces a chemical named paraxanthine which slows scar tissue growth. So, it lessens your risk of fibrosis and cirrhosis. This helps dampen the progression of liver disease. Coffee is also effective in the prevention of liver cancer.

Smoke No More

Smoking induces direct or indirect toxic effects, oncogenic effects, and immunological effects. These can aggravate symptoms of liver disease. This is because nicotine increases levels of fat in our blood which signals our liver to work even harder at filtering all those toxins. If you’re a smoker, then it’s also important to note that the smoke you puff can affect people around you too. Secondhand smoke has also been associated with cases of liver disease.

Similar to a busy person, our liver does several tasks and it can also get overwhelmed at times. Small changes in our lifestyle will make a huge impact on how efficient our liver can do those tasks. So, let’s always remember to make that impact a good one for our bodies and our overall health.

Do you have liver problems? We have hepatologists waiting to help you! Our medical staff and technologists are also ready to receive your liver test requests. Call our hotline to schedule an appointment now!