January is Love Your Liver month
January is Love Your Liver month, you only have one liver so it’s important to know how to look after it. Your liver is the largest organ inside your body and does hundreds of essential jobs like:
- Fighting infection and disease
- Destroying poisons and drugs (including alcohol)
- Cleaning the blood
- Controlling the amount of cholesterol
- Processing food once it has been digested
Three steps you can take to love your liver is
Cut down on alcohol
The liver has the job of processing alcohol you drink. If you drink over the recommended daily guidelines, your liver will not be able to process the alcohol you consume quickly enough, which damages the cells in your liver.
Keep to a healthy weight
A healthy liver should contain little or no fat. But in some people fat builds up in the liver. This leads to a condition called non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. If fatty deposits build up over a long time they can damage the liver and stop it working properly.
Protect yourself from viral hepatitis
Blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B and C can cause permanent liver damage and increase the risk of liver cancer. Hepatitis A and E are spread by poo that carries the infection (usually through contaminated food or water).
If you want to find out more information keeping your liver healthy, visit https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/