The liver is its own filter
The liver, according to the unanimous opinion of doctors, is a unique organ that perfectly regulates its work itself. This gland does not hurt and does not signal its own problems. Often people try to help the body by arranging detoxes and fasting days. Being in full confidence that they are doing better. In fact, there will either be no effect, or it can be harmful. Of course, alcoholic libations are a burden on the liver. It is important to know your limits, do not mix alcoholic drinks and do not drink on an empty stomach. Then the likelihood of a hangover will decrease significantly.
In fact, a hangover is an accumulation of under-oxidized products of ethyl alcohol processing. The severity of the hangover syndrome depends on the amount of alcohol consumed and the individual characteristics of ethanol metabolism. That is, stories about people who drink and do not get drunk are not a myth in a certain sense. But this does not mean that the liver of such people does not experience additional stress. An interesting detail: often drinking people may suffer less from a hangover, as they have “trained” the liver enzymes that break down ethanol (this will not save you from alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver).
Let’s move on to the main thing: how to clean the liver and whether it should be done. Answer: no need. The best thing we can do is to minimize the amount of alcohol and fatty foods. This will be enough.
Why diets and fasting are harmful
At the same time, “cleansing the liver” is a favorite pastime of a number of health-conscious people. For example, some are sure that fasting days have a positive effect on this organ. No. With the help of fasting days, you can lose some weight, as you reduce daily calories – this has nothing to do with the liver. Moreover, diets, and even more starvation, will adversely affect this organ. With prolonged fasting, the metabolism is disturbed, which can lead to damage to liver cells. The body will not receive the necessary energy. Here, reducing the amount of fast food and salads with mayonnaise is definitely a good idea.
And the liver does not collect any toxins – another tenacious myth. It does not accumulate slag – there is no such resource. Only with cirrhosis, the liver can malfunction when “poisons” enter the bloodstream unfiltered and cause general intoxication of the body. If you want to make sure that everything is in order with this organ, you can do an ultrasound and take a blood test, which the therapist will then evaluate. And the best way to cleanse the body as a whole, the doctor and TV presenter Elena Malysheva said in one of the programs, is water and coarse fiber – foods rich in fiber, corn bran.
By the way, the liver is the largest organ and weighs an average of one and a half kilograms. And this is the only organ that is able to restore its size itself – even if two-thirds of the volume is removed, the liver then regenerates.
Folk remedies that harm the liver
This includes the advice to drink vegetable oil for cleansing. According to the advice of traditional healers, you need to drink different amounts of olive oil – from a tablespoon in the morning to a glass in some recipes. It is also recommended to fix the effect with a heating pad in the liver area – and lie down like that. Reading such advice, doctors grab their heads. From one spoonful of oil there will be no harm (and no effect at all), but from a larger amount only harm is possible. At best, you will get off with an unpleasant aftertaste in your mouth, stomach pains and nausea. At worst, you will provoke the movement of stones in the bile ducts (you may not be aware of their presence there), which can result in very painful colic and the need for surgical intervention.
The same effect can be caused by the use of lemon juice, which some suggest drinking daily with the same olive oil on an empty stomach. This cocktail can turn into a choleretic effect and the same movement of stones along the ducts. In the worst case, everything will end with an attack of pancreatitis. Black radish juice is also not an assistant in liver cleansing. It can only cause irritation of the intestinal mucosa and an unpleasant pain in the stomach. There is no need to talk about lard as a means of purification: fat in excess of the norm will only cause harm.
Finally, do not get carried away with herbal preparations that promise to cleanse the body. You don’t know where the herbs were collected, at what time of the year, how they were dried, processed, and so on. It is worth remembering that a serious liver disease – hepatitis can develop due to improper medication. So the liver is easier to harm than help.
Symptoms needing attention
As you know, the liver has no nerve endings, so it does not hurt. But there are a number of symptoms that can signal a problem. If you notice them in yourself, you should consult a doctor.
These include:
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heaviness in the right hypochondrium;
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bitterness in the mouth;
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bloating;
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changes in the color of urine;
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icteric staining of nails, skin.
These symptoms can signal various diseases – including the liver. To clarify the situation in the laboratory, use:
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blood tests;
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ultrasound;
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biopsy;
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steatoScreen is a test for diagnosing the early stages of fibrosis, steatosis and a number of other liver pathologies.
Photo: Pexels.com
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