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The liver is tough. He forgives his weakness for fatty foods and swallowing medications, and bravely defends the body against what comes to it from the outside. He can regenerate and replace damaged fragments. However, when she has to deal with alcohol, she slowly becomes powerless.
Calling it a miracle of nature is probably no exaggeration. Because when a family transplant is necessary, as much as 1/4 of this two-and-a-half-kilogram organ can be cut off, and within a few months it will rebuild, assuming its former shape and size. Importantly, it will continue to serve its owner perfectly, and the downloaded fragment will take normal work in another organism and allow someone to live for many years. Unfortunately, we often destroy these remarkable regenerative properties ourselves. The liver’s greatest enemy is alcohol – we drink it for pleasure, and we often tell ourselves that alcohol improves digestion. Meanwhile, it irritates the gastric mucosa, disrupts the intestines and impedes food absorption, and damages the cells of the pancreas and liver. The signal of alcohol abuse appears when we consume at least 20 g (women) or 60 g (men) of pure alcohol every day. A half-liter can of beer contains 25 g. — Probe 15341 | 300px | 2—
Signs that something is wrong
People who feel great the day after a drunk party think that alcohol is good for them. Unfortunately. Every drink you drink has to pass through the liver, and the alcohol in it, even in small doses, often raises your cholesterol levels. In addition, it can damage the cell membranes of hepatocytes, i.e. liver cells, which make up about 80 percent. its masses. Cells are regenerating worse and worse. Few of us realize that just three drinks plus innocent paracetamol is an extremely dangerous cocktail that can cause serious damage to the liver. What happens when an organ is unwell? The protective capsule (peritoneal membrane) that surrounds the liver stretches, putting more pressure on the adjacent intestines and stomach. We feel unpleasant stinging in the side, stretching under the ribs. This is the first sign that your liver is not doing well. Other signals are:
– slower metabolism and, consequently, a tendency to overweight or obesity,
– chronic fatigue
High blood pressure
– flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, bitterness in the mouth
– mood swings
– increased appetite for sweets
– worsening of allergic symptoms, hay fever, asthma
– skin changes: numerous pigmented marks and warts, brown spots at the hair roots
– no effects when losing weight
– cold, moist body, especially hands
– yellow underside of the tongue
– reddening of the skin in the palm of your hand around the thumb and little finger
– cramps in the calves and fingers.
Liver tests should be performed once a year. It is a simple laboratory test that allows you to check the level of enzymes contained in the liver cells and assess whether it is coping with the stresses.
How to examine the liver, see
A female weak point
The liver is the Achilles’ heel of ladies. Not only is she five times less resistant to alcohol than men, she is also exposed to many factors that weaken her throughout her life. These include the long-term use of hormones (contraception or hormone therapy during the menopause). It takes even 20 years for alcohol to destroy a man’s liver, and for a woman 4-5 years of regular drinking is enough! The higher risk may be due to differences in the way alcohol is absorbed and broken down. When a woman drinks, her blood alcohol concentration reaches a higher level than a man’s, even though both of them are drinking the same amount. The chemicals involved in breaking down alcohol also differ between men and women, for example, women’s stomachs contain fewer enzymes involved in breaking down alcohol. This means that women break down alcohol more slowly and their livers are exposed to higher levels of alcohol for longer periods – which is fatal to the liver. How a woman’s body breaks down and removes alcohol can be related to estrogen levels and even to the size of her liver.
Assisted regeneration
As long as there are no permanent changes in the liver caused by frequent drinking, it can be restored to its former efficiency, very often even in one hundred percent. It is enough to eliminate factors that burden her from her life. In order to free the liver from toxins, accelerate its regeneration and rejuvenation, it is enough – apart from completely giving up alcohol – a simple diet. Start eating less, but 5–6 times a day and at the same intervals. What you can eat raw, eat it in the form of salads or salads. Do not fry, but stew in water with extra virgin vegetable oils or bake in foil. Meals should be fresh, not reheated. Steam products that require thermal processing or cook them in a small amount of water, covered. Eliminate: cheese, cream, butter, margarine, eggs, wheat bread, sweets, sugar, roasted peanuts, mushrooms, even mushrooms, coffee, strong tea. It takes 8 weeks for a full “detox”. For the first 2, banned products are gradually reduced, for the next 4 you have to give them up. The last two weeks mean less stringency in planning meals, but the number of forbidden products still needs to be limited. It is recommended to supplement the cleansing with cranberry and apple juice. Or herbs: infusion of dandelion and artichoke root. These herbs regenerate liver cells, have a choleretic and choleretic effect. You can reach for tablets – they usually contain extracts of milk thistle seeds, which contain beneficial silymarin, and artichoke herb rich in cynarin.
Adequate supplementation can positively affect the work of the liver. At Medonet Market you can buy the Liver Health Formula dietary supplement with turmeric, burdock root, supporting the liver and digestive processes. We also recommend HepaDr. And in tablets – a preparation from the Diather brand, which has a beneficial effect on the work of the liver and supports its regeneration.
The liver dies from alcohol
Eight out of ten people suffer from liver malfunction and damage due to alcohol abuse. And it does not matter whether the throat gets two “hundreds” of vodka or four mugs of beer – it’s still the same portion. If the liver is unable to “rest” from the poison, it gradually deteriorates and at some point this process becomes irreversible. The liver, in which most of the alcohol is metabolized, reacts to excess alcohol: steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis.
First it is fatty liver. It consists in an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver cells and is a largely reversible process, i.e. it disappears after stopping drinking. The symptoms of steatosis are manifested by ailments in the area of the right hypochondrium and a marked enlargement of the liver. Fatty liver occurs after drinking 150-200 g a day for 10-12 days, even in a healthy person. If the alcohol is told to “stop” then the fatty tissue will subside within 3-6 weeks. On the other hand, continued drinking turns the contusion into hepatitis. It is the result of consuming 80 g of alcohol every day for several years. Symptoms and complaints are more severe than in the case of steatosis. Necro-inflammatory changes of the hepatic cells take place. At this stage, stopping alcohol consumption completely leads to recovery for most people. Drug treatment is needed in more severe cases. If a person with alcoholic hepatitis continues to drink, about 80 percent of the drinkers drink. cases, fibrosis develops, followed by cirrhosis. Cirrhosis of the liver occurs as a result of alcohol abuse in a dose of 160 g per day for 8-10 years. The liver parenchyma atrophies and collagen fibers are densified. The effect of these changes is impaired nutritional processes of cells, poorer transport of substances from the blood to the parenchyma cells, and impaired blood flow through the liver. The damage to the liver as a result of the disease is irreversible, but treatment can slow it down or even stop it if it is treated early and properly. When cirrhosis has not yet caused much damage, anti-inflammatory drugs are used or an attempt is made to improve the patient’s metabolism.