One of the most essential organs in the human body is the liver. The liver must digest all that we consume until its nutrients can be distributed across the body. In a variety of physiological processes, including blood detoxification and metabolic activity, the liver has a broad range of functions and it plays a vital role. Consequently, the health of our body is directly linked to our liver 's health. Even though the liver is capable of replacing damaged cells, the liver may not be able to function correctly if too many cells are lost. There are some bad habits that are part of our daily lives that can raise the risk of damage to the liver and pain. We may not even know it, as with no visible symptoms, the harm may be incremental. However, these practices can do irreversible harm to your liver over a period of time, putting your life in jeopardy.
So, let's take a look at some of the common bad habits your liver can be harmed by:
- Excessive Alcohol
The most common cause of liver damage is heavy alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol decreases the ability of the liver to extract toxins from the body. This is because the liver is diverted from its other functions and focuses solely on the conversion of alcohol into a less toxic form, causing inflammation and fatty liver disease. The resulting chemical reaction destroys the liver cells as the liver attempts to break down alcohol, and after a long time of drinking excessive alcohol, the damage can become permanent, causing cirrhosis (which leads to loss of liver function). In addition, the liver's attempts to fix the damaged ones will lead to cancerous growths caused by DNA mutations.
- Overuse of Medications
As one of the functions of the liver is to break down substances we ingest, including narcotics, vitamins, and herbs, our liver can be eventually damaged by consuming too much of a certain drug. This harm can vary from mild to total failure of the liver. Acetaminophen, which is commonly available without a prescription and can be used in many cold and flu treatments as well as prescription pain medications, is one of the most well-known medications that can cause liver damage. This drug is safe in small doses, but if you take too much of it over the course of several days, you may damage your liver. Excess amounts of some herbal remedies and natural supplements can also be harmful to the liver. For instance, too much vitamin A is a well-known cause of liver toxicity. This is why inspecting the label of every drug or supplement is important to see if there are every alerts about possible harm to the liver.
- Smoking
If you really want to be safe, smoking is one habit you must give up. Indirectly, tobacco smoke affects the liver. Eventually, the toxic chemicals present in the smoke enter the liver and induce oxidative stress that creates free radicals that kill the cells. This oxidative stress can also induce fibrosis, a mechanism in which, during its effort to repair itself, the liver produces excess tissue, similar to that of scar tissue, and, over time, this can significantly affect the capacity of the liver to function properly.
- Deprivation Of Sleep
A research published in the Journal of Anatomy found that lack of sleep can induce liver oxidative stress. Another study from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reveals why shift work and people suffering from sleep deprivation suffer from a variety of health problems. Obesity, heart disease , and diabetes, among others. This research showed that the subjects' livers did not effectively absorb fat, causing fat to accumulate. In addition, our body goes through a repair phase while we sleep. Therefore, as a lack of sleep will ruin your elimination process and damage your liver, you need to make sure that you get a decent 8 hours of sleep per night.
- Obesity and poor nutrition
Obesity has been linked to poor eating habits, and over a period of time, this can harm your liver. The explanation for this is that too much of the wrong food, known as NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), allows excess fat to build up in the liver. The liver usually helps to process and regulate the amount of sugar and fat in our blood, but the liver becomes overwhelmed in obese people and begins to store excess fats in its own liver cells, either because there is no other place to put them or because they have not been broken down by the liver. Over time, the liver may become inflamed and the liver cells can be weakened if too much fat accumulates in the liver.
- Finaly
The ingestion of a large quantity of processed foods, frequently full of preservatives, additives, artificial sweeteners, and flavorings, exposes the liver to harm because they are difficult to break down and full of chemicals. Processed foods are also full of salt, which, by building up liquid in the liver and causing swelling, can not only raise blood pressure but also cause fatty liver disease. Not consuming enough leafy greens, fruits, and other vegetables (which are a great source of antioxidants) will not offer adequate vitamins C and E, zinc, beta-carotene, and selenium to the body, all of which help keep the liver healthy. The liver uses vitamin B12, primarily found in meat, to help with bile flow, so it is necessary not to have a deficiency of vitamin B12. In the detoxification process of the liver, other B vitamins also help, and they can be found in dried fruits , nuts, egg yolks, fish, brown rice and legumes.