avatarShefali O'Hara

Summarize

Facts About the Liver and Liver Disease

What does the research suggest?

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Note: I try to cite reputable sources for the information I present in this article, so I give links. The links are underlined and in boldface. If there is a problem with any of the links, please let me know so I can fix it.

As I remember from an episode of House M.D., we need the liver to live. After all, “live” is right there in the name.

So what does the liver do? Apparently a LOT. More than 500 vital functions are associated with the liver. I’m not going to list all of them, but here are a few. The liver:

  • Regulates the levels of most blood chemicals
  • Excretes bile, which helps to carry away waste products
  • Processes the blood that has already passed through the stomach and intestines
  • Filters this blood helps to create nutrients and metabolize drugs
  • Produces several different typese of protein and converts excess glucose into glycogen
  • Stores iron that is used to form hemoglobin
  • Regulates amino acid levels in the blood
  • Converts ammonia (which is a poison) to urea
  • Regulates blood clotting
  • Helps the body resist infections
  • Clears bilirubin from the blood. When bilirubin accumulates, the skin and eyes become yellow — indicating jaundice

Obviously, when things go wrong with the liver, we suffer.

Fortunately for us, the liver can regenerate. In fact, it is the only organ in the human body that can do so. A liver can regrow to its normal size if just 10% remains undamaged.

There are people, however, whose livers cannot regenerate. Some researchers believe that the blood clotting factor fibrinogen may be responsible.

Even for those without this issue, care needs to be taken because the liver isn’t invincible. The follow conditions can harm it beyond its ability to repair itself:

  • Cancer
  • Hepatitis
  • Some types of medication overdoses
  • Fatty liver disease

Annually, over 7,000 Americans get liver transplants. However, there are always more people who need a liver than can get a donated organ in time.

If you or someone you love is suffering from liver disease, are there any ways to help it out? To either help it to be able to regrow, or to at least stabilize it long enough so you can get a donated liver?

Several studies from reputable sources such as:

all mention the use of therapeutic fasting to help.

There are several reasons that short term fasting is beneficial to the liver. These include reducing the risk of fatty liver disease and reducing elevated levels of liver enzymes.

IF (intermittent fasting) reduces the risk of fatty liver disease by encouraging a reduction in excess weight. While many people think that it’s due to alcohol consumption, overeating and not exercising are also pieces of the puzzle. By pairing IF with a moderate exercise regimen, this situation can be addressed to prevent the development of fatty liver disease.

Excess levels of liver enzymes can create oxidative stress and inflamation, which can damage the liver. IF reduces these harmful conditions by lowering the quantity of liver enzymes.

However, according to Dr. Amit Miglani, prolonged fasting can have negative effects on liver health. This is because the liver breaks down stored glycogen to produce glucose and produces ketones from fatty acids.

Because this can cause stress on the liver, long term fasting is not advised for people with liver disease. Instead, what seems to be the consensus among several different studies, both on human test subjects and on mice, is that alternate day fasting combined with moderate levels of activity can help people suffering from liver disease.

The exception seems to be fatty liver caused by excess alcohol consumption.

So, if you have liver disease, what does it mean to do alternate day fasting and to do moderate excerise?

Alternate day fasting means exactly that — you fast every other day. On your eating days, you eat normal meals in a 12 hour eating window — say from 7am to 7pm. After your last meal of the day on your eating day, you do not eat again until breakfast on your next eating day. That means you are actually fasting for 36 hours.

What can you consume on your eating days? Hopefully you avoid alcohol! Aside from that, though, you can have normal, healthy meals. On your fasting days, consume water, plain tea or coffee (no sugar or cream) and mineral water such as Perrier or Topo Chico.

If this is too hard for you to start with, you can consume small amounts of fatty foods during your fast days during your first couple of weeks, while your body adjusts.

These would include the following:

  • macadamia nuts
  • olives
  • butter or coconut oil in your coffee
  • half an avocado

The total caloric intake should not exceed about 500 calories.

As far as the excercise — many people with liver disease may be too weak for normal exercise. However, it’s important to get your blood flowing.

Fortunately, you can find seated workout programs online and through exercise videos. I used this type of workout when I was recovering from a mastectomy and found I couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes at a time.

The most important thing is to stick to your Target Heart Rate (THR) range. This number is based on how old you are — the estimate is 220 beats per minute minus your age times 0.5–0.7. This will give you your range. If you are mathematically challenged, check out the chart here.

Remember that both the diet and exercise suggestions here may not be the best for your particular situation. Therefore before you start on anything, always check with your own medical team.

I am fighting stage IV cancer. If you can help with medical bills, I would really appreciate it. Or if you enjoy my writing and would like to buy me a cup of coffee, that’s great too. Maybe someday I can return the favor.

Liver
Fatty Liver Disease
Liver Transplant
Medicine
Biology
Recommended from ReadMedium