🤯LIVER OVERLOAD🤯
Following on from our last Liver post (https://naturallynourishedcollective.com/articles/2019/2/26/love-your-liver) here is Part 2 - Liver Overload!
In this chapter of Liver Care, we will go through everyday substances that can damage your liver, as well as foods and drinks that are known to contribute to a sluggish liver and even worse, liver disease. The most common issue with the liver seen in practice, is fatty liver disease, followed by acute liver inflammation and gallbladder disease. "The side effects of these diseases leave patients so unwell that they can often times be left debilitated" according to Dr Cris Beer.
So how can the liver be damaged?
There are three main categories of substances that can harm the liver which include Toxins, Overload Agents and Microorganisms.
TOXINS ☣️
When the liver is bogged down, it will purposely store fat on the human body so it has a place to store toxins in until such time as those toxins can be processed. These toxins store in adipose over time and can lead to a toxic load on our body as we age. This is also why as some people lose weight, they develop skin conditions such as acne - as these toxins can be expelled through the skin.
OVERLOAD AGENTS 🤯
You may not think that overindulgence creates an issue for anything else except your waist line, but over eating actually has the capability to bog down your liver function as well. Food is extremely accessible in todays society which sees many of us constantly indulging in overload agents such as sugar, excess carbs, unhealthy trans fats and excessive red meat consumption.
Eating in extreme excess, or even small excess daily, overloads the liver's ability to breakdown and process food nutrients. Some other common overload agents are; *Fructose *Refined Carbohydrates *Unhealthy Fats *Iron Rich foods
MICROORGANISMS - Viruses, Bacteria & Food poisoning. 🤢
Some organisms in our environment have the potential to impact our liver and contribute to damage by either directly attacking the body or via the chemicals that some microorganisms release. Some examples of these microorganisms are; *Blood-Borne Hepatitis Viruses *Food Borne Hepatitis Viruses *Food Borne Bacteria *HIV *Malaria *Tuberculosis *EBV, CMV and Glandular Fever viruses.
LIVER HATING FOODS ❌
*Beans & Legumes - avoid flavoured or salted canned beans. Always choose Uncanned Varieties.
*Starches & Grains - Wheat, Rye, Barley, Spelt, Couscous, Triticale, Chips (all types)
*Some Vegetables - Pickled, Tinned & Frozen. Always opt for fresh and raw when possible.
*Fruit - Canned, Dried, Candied, Concentrated Fruit Juice.
*Dairy - Cheese, Cream, Ice-Cream, Sweetened Yoghurts, Custard
*Nuts & Seeds - Peanuts, Roasted and Salted nuts, Candied or Chocolate Covered nuts
*Oils - Butter, Canola Oil (AVOID), Duck Fat (Moderation), Ghee (Moderation), Mergerine (AVOID), Peanut Oil (AVOID), Vegetable Oil (AVOID)
*Herbs, Spices, Dressings & Condiments - AVOID - Sugar, Sweetened Spices, Artificial Sweeteners
*Drinks - AVOID - Alcohol, Soft Drinks, Fruit Drinks, Coffee & Tea (except herbal), reconstituted juice.
*Meat - Excessive consumption of Red Meat, Processed Sausages, Bacons, Hams & Processed Meats, Fish high in mercury content, Meats high in Nitrates (smoked Salmon, Ham etc)
Other Every day substances that can damage your liver are;
*Energy Drinks, *Alcohol Intake *Excessive Workload *Smoking *Prescription & Over the counter medicine *Infection/illness *Stress *Processed Foods *Environmental Toxins *Soils *Allergies/Food Intollerances *Poor Nutrition.
Removing the things named above will see you be kinder to your liver and help it do its job.
Don't stress, you don't have to do it all at once. Use this as a guide to making healthier choices and over time this will become your new way of living.
Stay tuned for our next Liver Post on Liver Lovers and all things good for your liver ✌️
Source: Dr Cris Beer BBioMedSci, MBBS (hons), FRACGP, member ACNEM, member AIMA, Cert IV in Fitness