How to Maintain a Strong and Healthy Liver

Science tells us that your liver works tirelessly to keep you alive. This guide will help you return the favour. Maintaining liver health requires a three-pronged approach — consuming foods good for the liver, avoiding alcohol consumption, and staying physically active. 

This wedge-shaped organ located in your upper abdominal region is a real workhorse, given the large number of functions it performs. 

Key functions include:

• Detoxing your body by filtering your blood
• Producing bile, a fluid that transports waste products and aids the small intestine in breaking down fats and cholesterol
• Storing carbohydrates to help the body generate energy as well as storing vitamins and minerals
• Strengthening the body’s immune system by producing various immune factors
• Producing proteins for blood clotting and albumin

Your diet goes a long way in keeping your liver in good shape. Dr Vaibhav Somani, a hepatologist, recommends aiming for an “overall healthy diet which has less animal protein, trans fats, and sugars.”

Load your dish with beneficial liver foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins to obtain dietary fibre, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Stay away from carbonated beverages such as diet soda. A 2023 study demonstrates a close relationship between excess consumption of sodas and developing Metabolic dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease, previously known as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Your liver metabolises alcohol with enzymes that break it down into smaller compounds.

The byproduct known as acetaldehyde results in significant liver damage despite its short lifespan. Consistent alcohol consumption leads to fat accumulation and inflammation in your liver, increasing the risk of alcoholic fatty liver disease, steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and potentially liver failure.

As Dr Sonal Asthana from Aster Integrated Liver Care (ILC) Group explains, “The liver has remarkable regenerative capabilities if alcohol use is stopped before severe damage occurs. Advanced damage may be irreversible and require a liver transplant.” 

OTC medications that help address fever and mild to moderate pain are a common purchase.  While occasional consumption is fine, don’t make it a habit. Excessive usage of certain medications can “damage the liver by harming vital structural connections between adjacent cells in the organ”, as a 2024 study by the University of Edinburgh reveals. Make sure to always consult your doctor before self-diagnosing.

Any physical activity is good for your body, including your liver. Research indicates that engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity for a minimum of 150 minutes weekly can enhance the condition of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and diminish inflammation, regardless of weight loss. Exercise also accelerates fatty acid oxidation (the process through which your cells create energy for the body) and prevents the damage of liver cells.

Diseases such as hepatitis B and C are transmitted through unprotected sex. These viral infections cause an inflamed liver.

Hepatitis B may result in a chronic liver infection, leading to liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. Chronic hepatitis C also damages the liver, resulting in cirrhosis or liver failure. Vaccines prevent hepatitis B, but currently, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Speak to your doctor to understand the best course of action for your unique health requirements.

Opt for foods good for the liver to prevent disruptions in your metabolic system. 

Consuming a well-balanced diet that’s rich in fibre, include whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and high-quality protein is the best liver food you can lay your hands on. 

Your liver self-cleanses provided you consume foods good for it and maintain a good lifestyle. There’s no scientific evidence to suggest that detox diets effectively cleanse your liver, and crash diets cannot substitute healthy liver food.

Only medical interventions prescribed by a qualified doctor can address liver damage issues, not cleanses.

Hope these healthy liver tips inspire you to love your liver. Survival is impossible without a functioning liver!

“Common early symptoms are fatigue, tiredness, bloating, and weight loss. More advanced liver disease can present with jaundice, fluid accumulation in the belly, bleeding, or mental confusion. However, due to profound regenerative capacity, most liver problems do not present earlier,’” observes Dr Asthana. 

“Early liver damage can be reversed by reversing the inciting causes. For example, damage due to alcohol intake may improve by stopping alcohol consumption; fatty liver can partially reverse with weight loss. Hepatitis B- and C-related liver damage can be halted with correct antiviral drugs. Liver damage is difficult to reverse once fibrosis sets in,” notes Dr Asthana.

While not a medication, research shows that coffee can reduce the risk of liver cancer and fibrosis, and hinder hepatitis C virus replication.

“Alcohol can cause fat accumulation, inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis), and scarring (cirrhosis). The extent of liver damage typically depends on the amount and duration of alcohol consumption,” explains Dr Asthana.