There are few organs as underappreciated as our livers. You might not think about your liver often, but rest assured that it’s always working overtime to keep you healthy. So, the least you could do for it is repay the favor, right?
Your liver performs more than 500 vital functions, so a healthy liver leads to a better life. However, one of our favorite drinks, alcohol, is a sworn enemy of the liver. So, the first step to take good care of your liver is understanding how alcohol affects it.
That’s why in this article, we’ll break down the effects of alcohol on your liver, why it’s so important to keep it healthy, and how you can do so through mindful drinking.
How Does Alcohol Consumption Affect Your Liver?
Now, when we say that alcohol is bad for your liver health it doesn’t mean that you can’t drink any alcohol at all. Is more about how much you drink.
Your liver can metabolize about one drink per hour. So, if you were to drink only a couple of glasses a day it won’t be a big deal. But the more you drink the more punishment your liver takes.
You see, as you drink more and more your liver starts to have issues metabolizing all that alcohol. When the liver has too much work, it starts to build up fat. This can lead to liver diseases, like alcoholic hepatitis.
While this is more common with people that have drunk a lot of alcohol over a long period of time, it can also happen more easily to people that binge drink.
In the long run, all that alcohol use will build up fat that can lead to fatty liver disease, which very often turns into cirrhosis or alcoholic hepatitis. The fat build up in your liver causes inflammation, which eventually leads to scarring and improper liver function.
While it’s not always obvious when you are suffering from an alcohol-related liver disease, there are still some red flags that can point to it. Some of these signs include:
- Abdominal pain and/or swelling
- Leg and/or ankle swelling
- Loss of appetite
- Itchy skin
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Vomiting
If you are having any of these symptoms, you should get in touch with a doctor. While one or two of these might not be worrying on their own, they could be the precursor to a much greater problem.
You owe it to yourself, and your liver, to take the cautious approach and contact your doc.
How Can I Heal My Liver?
If you are already struggling with a beat-up liver, then you might need to do more than just to put a break on the drinking. Luckily for you, we have a few tips to help get your liver back in tip-top shape:
Drink More Fluids
Hydration is salvation. Keeping your body properly hydrated will not only reduce the effects of hangovers, but also helps regulate your body temperature, improve your cognition, and even lift your mood.
So, when you wake up make a point of drinking a glass of water right away. And make a habit of drinking water every chance you get. Drink water when you travel, at work, and at home. This will go a long way to protecting not only your liver, but all your other organs too.
Eat Foods that Help it Heal
Everybody loves eating, so if you are looking to help your liver heal then all you need to do is go for specific foods. For example, dark leafy greens and many citrus fruits are filled with antioxidants that help lower inflammation.
Speaking about antioxidants, you can also drink green tea. This tea is known as one of the most powerful antioxidants, and people that drink it regularly are known to have lower risk of cancer or heart diseases.
Last but not least, you can eat healthy fat foods like nuts, seeds, fish, or avocado. And if you are a huge fan of cooking with butter, consider replacing it with olive oil.
How Does Mindful Drinking Help My Liver?
You don’t necessarily need to stop drinking entirely to help your liver. By being more conscious about your drinking, you’ll be doing it a huge favor. Here’s some ways in which mindful drink helps you keep your liver healthy:
Lowers Anxiety and Depression
In the long run, alcohol use can lead to anxiety and depression due to the chemical changes and imbalances that its short- and long-term use cause in your brain. Sure, you feel a rush at first, but that dopamine hit quickly evaporates and leaves you with low blood-sugar, exhausted, and dehydrated.
And while depression and anxiety are bad enough on their own, they have also been linked to fatty liver disease.
By following the tenets of mindful drinking, you can help reduce all of that. Keeping your mind and body healthy.
Helps You Sleep Better
If you visit Sunnyside you’ll find a lot of information on the effects of alcohol on sleep. To keep things short, while alcohol might make you feel drowsy it actually decreases the quality of your sleep. That’s because it disrupts the sleep patterns that help your body recover. By being more moderate with your drinking, you can sleep better and more soundly.
Gives Your Liver a Break
Everyone deserves a break, but especially your liver. The less work you give, the better it will be. When your liver has to metabolize alcohol, it sets aside some of its other functions to focus on it, leading to a poor job overall. Your liver has a wide variety of functions, but when alcohol is involved, its multitasking ability isn’t the best.
Final Thoughts
If you give your liver a break from alcohol, it’ll repay you with better sleep, less anxiety and depression, and a reduced likelihood of painful liver diseases. A good way to help your liver stay healthy, or recover from a bad night of drinking, is by eating specific foods or drinking a lot of fluids.
If you take good care of your liver, it will take care of you. It might sound cliché, but your body is a temple. Make sure it’s in good condition.
