Towards a healthy liver

October 2007     View PDF     En español

Make lifestyle changes

Making changes in your diet can go a long way in helping your liver work well. Eating a healthful diet can also help the liver recover from illness, and is sometimes an important part of treatment. Check the US Food Guide Pyramid at www.mypyramid.gov. For more information on nutrition, see the section Eat Well and Exercise.

Alcohol is rather difficult for the liver to process. Some people are more sensitive to it than others. Alcohol can be an issue depending upon the amount a person drinks and over how long a period of time. Stopping or cutting back on how much and how often you drink will give your liver a chance to work better. Some experts suggest no more than two drinks a day while others suggest only one. For people with liver disease, it’s recommended to not drink alcohol at all. If you take over-the-counter medicines, read the labels carefully. Many liquid cold and flu products contain alcohol and should be used with caution. As well, drinking alcohol while taking acetaminophen and other medicines can be toxic to your liver. Consult your doctor.

What we breathe into our lungs is filtered by the liver. Two ways to preserve your liver’s health are to avoid smoking and to stay away from toxic fumes and liquids. It is believed that smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing liver cancer. Fumes from everyday items like hair sprays, cleaning products like ammonia, bug sprays and paint thinners, among others, can also damage your liver and should be avoided. If you have to handle these, consider wearing a mask or gloves, covering your skin, or opening windows to air out your living spaces.

Liver damage is common in people who are injection drug users. This activity can pass viruses and bacteria from person to person which can make you sick and harm your liver. Street drugs are often impure and contain harmful chemicals that may lead to liver disease. Limiting or not using street drugs will help protect your liver. If you do use, don’t share your works with others—like needles, razor blades, cookers, cotton, water or snorting straws. This also holds true for needles for taking steroids or diabetes or other meds.

Having safer sex and good personal hygiene can prevent infections that affect the liver. Use condoms and other means to prevent infections. Finding out more about your sex partner’s sexual history can also help. (For more information, read Project Inform’s publication, Sex and Prevention Concerns for Positive People.) Also, don’t share personal items such as toothbrushes and other dental tools, razors, manicure tools or other items that can have blood on them—especially if your partner has contagious infections that cause liver disease.

Over time, exposure to poisons and other chemicals can cause chronic liver disease. You may want to look around your home for any signs of these chemicals. Also, if you work around them, you may be at higher risk for liver damage.