The liver is one of the body’s most important organs, as it performs a wide variety of vital functions. According to Cape Town-based gastroenterologist Dr Corne Kruger, three of its most important functions are the following:
- It cleans your blood: The liver detoxifies potentially harmful chemicals and drugs, and separates out useful nutrients.
- It helps digest food: The liver produces bile, which is an important digestive liquid that plays a role in the digestion of fat. Bile is created in the liver and excreted into the small intestine.
- It processes nutrients: The nutrients absorbed from the small intestine are transported to the liver, where the liver acts as a ‘chemical factory’. The raw materials absorbed from the small intestine are used to create chemicals that are essential for the normal functioning of the human body.
What kind of damage can you do to your liver?
There are three primary ways that you can damage your liver, namely through drugs, alcohol and obesity, says Dr Kruger.
“Drugs or medications can cause liver damage acutely, which is when they have a rapid onset – as in the case of antibiotics, tuberculosis drugs, for example – or chronically, which is when they do harm over a longer period, for example, anti-inflammatory drugs. In extreme cases, this can lead to liver failure due to massive liver cell damage,” says Dr Kruger.
Additionally, both long-term excessive ingestion of alcohol and obesity, in combination with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.
7 tips for a healthy liver
Dr Kruger recommends these tips for keeping your liver healthy:
- Eat healthily and avoid becoming overweight or obese at all costs.
- Exercise regularly.
- Avoid excessive alcohol use. Alcohol in moderate amounts (2-3 units/day) is acceptable, and can even be liver protective.
- Avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics or other prescription drugs.
- If you need to use medications that are known to cause liver damage, go for regular follow-ups with your prescribing doctor to detect early liver damage.
- Avoid recreational drugs.
- Be careful with over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that don’t have supporting safety studies. Speak to your Clicks pharmacist if you are worried about any OTC medications.
- Drink coffee in moderation – it has been scientifically proven to be liver protective.
IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com
