Liver protection campaign! Give you a colorful life, nutrition tips

The liver is the most important chemical factory in the human body, performing more than 9,000 physiological functions every day, including detoxification, storage, synthesis, conversion, etc. It is like the core of a restaurant, which is responsible for cooking, serving dishes, cleaning dishes and kitchen waste, and preparing ingredients for tomorrow. This shows the importance of the liver.

"Liver disease" has long been a "national disease" for Taiwanese people. This is related to our eating habits, living habits, drinking culture, work pressure, etc. Liver disease usually progresses in a three-step process: liver inflammation → cirrhosis → liver cancer. If you want to prevent liver cancer, you must start by preventing liver inflammation.

There are many causes of liver inflammation, such as viral, alcoholic, drug-induced, bile retention, autoimmune, fatty liver, etc. In Taiwan, "viral hepatitis" is one of the main causes. According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, there are approximately 3 million hepatitis B and C carriers in Taiwan, but less than 1/6 of them seek medical treatment.

Studies have shown that the more hepatitis viruses there are in the body, the higher the chance of developing liver cancer. Therefore, if you are diagnosed as a hepatitis virus carrier, it is recommended that you cooperate with the doctor's treatment. Currently, you can use "interferon" and "oral antiviral drugs" for treatment. Controlling the number of viruses is the first step to protecting the liver.

In addition, the liver has to process thousands of chemical reactions every day, so it needs to consume a large amount of nutrients. When nutrients are lacking, the liver's chemical reactions cannot proceed smoothly, and the body will of course become sick. Therefore, the important principles of liver protection are: "providing sufficient nutrition to the liver" and "reducing the burden on the liver".

Provide adequate nutrition for the liver

1. Eat a balanced diet: Eat a balanced and diverse diet to provide the liver with sufficient "materials", including protein, B vitamins, antioxidant nutrients, etc.

2. Eat more coarse food: such as whole grains and root vegetables, which contain more B vitamins than refined white rice.

**3. Take in high-quality protein: such as soy products, fish, lean meat, eggs, and low-fat milk, preferably raw foods. Avoid processed foods with poor protein quality, such as ham, sausage, fish paste, etc.

4. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and berries: Eat fruits and vegetables of all colors of the rainbow to get rich antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamin C, anthocyanins, polyphenols, flavonoids... and other phytochemicals, which can help the liver eliminate free radicals during the detoxification process.

5. Eat nuts in moderation: Nuts can provide the body with essential unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant.

Reduce liver burden

1. Stay away from unhealthy foods: too many artificial additives will increase the burden on the liver.

2. Eat less fried foods and sweets: It is easy to put the body in a state of "chronic inflammation", which is the root cause of all diseases.

3. Keep the intestines clean: Bowel movements should be smooth. If constipation occurs for a long time, the toxins in the feces will be reabsorbed back into the liver, increasing the burden on the liver.

4. Avoid unnecessary western medicine: Medicines also need to be detoxified in the liver.

5. Learn abdominal breathing: avoid hypoxia in the body. You can also do 30 minutes of light aerobic exercise every day.

6. Get adequate rest: especially from 11pm to 3am, which is an important time for liver and gallbladder detoxification.

7. Control the virus count: Hepatitis B and C carriers should be treated and followed up regularly to reduce liver inflammation.

Nutritional conditioning to cure liver disease

According to clinical data statistics, the ratio of hepatitis B carriers in Taiwan is 1.1:1 for males: females. However, the rate of male hepatitis B carriers developing liver cancer is 4 to 8 times that of females, indicating that men are at high risk of worsening liver disease. The liver is a silent organ, and there are no obvious symptoms in the early stages of liver disease. Many patients with cirrhosis and liver cancer are usually in a serious condition when they are discovered. Therefore, you should grasp the above liver protection principles in your daily life and take good care of your liver so that you can have a colorful life.

This article comes from: Donna Nutritionist Chen Yichun's blog

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