Diet for patients with liver disease

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Vo Thi Thuy Trang - Gastroenterologist, Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Danang International Hospital. The doctor has many years of experience in the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy.

The liver is an organ responsible for the digestion and metabolism of all substances circulating in the body. A healthy liver, absorbs nutrients well and eliminates unnecessary substances to help the body stay healthy. Thus, the diet for patients with hepatobiliary disease how to perform is something that liver disease patients and normal people should also know.

The liver is a relatively large internal organ in the body. The liver is located in the abdomen, hidden under the ribcage, always working continuously regardless of day and night for your survival. The function of the liver is to excrete bile, which contains digestive enzymes, to help break down food into small-sized nutrients that are easily absorbed into the bloodstream. If this function is compromised, you will not be able to consume anything from the food you eat and gradually become depleted. At the same time, the liver is also likened to a factory that processes all substances circulating in the blood and expels toxins. In other words, if you have a very hearty diet, the liver has to actively metabolize and absorb those substances.
If the foods you eat are unhealthy foods, like high-fat or fried foods, high in salt, excessive alcohol, your liver is really under attack. The liver has to work hard, processing and expelling waste.
However, the liver's tolerance is not infinite. Diet has a very close relationship to liver health. A healthy person needs to know how to eat to protect the liver. How a person with liver disease should eat to avoid further adverse effects is also a thing to consider before each daily meal.

If you have a medical condition, your hepatobiliary diet should always be followed and tailored to meet individual needs. You can talk directly with your doctor about what foods are best for your body. Here are some tips on food groups that help keep the liver healthy or strong:
Eat a balanced diet: Choose and prepare foods from all the food groups as diverse as whole grains. cup, fruit, vegetable, meat, bean, milk. Fat groups such as oils, butter, and whole milk should be limited. Eat plenty of fiber-rich foods: Fiber facilitates your liver to function at an optimal level. Fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, rice and cereals can completely provide your body's fiber needs every day. Eat fatty sea fish: This type of fish can add a source of essential fats for the body but is completely friendly to your liver as well as heart health. Furthermore, consuming fatty fish and taking fish oil supplements may help reduce the impact of liver conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Eat dry nuts: These include chestnuts, almonds , sunflower seeds... are good sources of vitamin E, a nutrient that research shows may help protect against fatty liver disease. At the same time, this is also an ideal choice when you feel like snacking. Drink coffee: This is good news for coffee lovers. Studies show that drinking two to three cups a day can protect your liver from damage, especially when it comes to drinking too much alcohol or an unhealthy diet. At the same time, this attractive drink can also reduce the risk of liver cancer. Drink green tea: This is also a good liver drink because it contains a type of antioxidant called catechins, which help protect the liver against some forms of cancer. The amount of catechins received will be more if you make your own tea and drink it while it is still hot. Iced tea and ready-to-drink green tea have much lower levels of this substance.

Drink plenty of water: One of the simplest things you can do for your liver is to drink enough water. Get in the habit of drinking mineral water or filtered water instead of sweet drinks like soda, canned soft drinks. This habit prevents dehydration and will help your liver work better. Maintain a healthy body weight: That means you need to keep your body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 25. This is also the result if you do the above well and get in the habit of exercising. exercise regularly. You will get not only a healthy liver but also a strong body. You can refer to the menu for patients with fatty liver disease, hepatitis B, liver cancer in the following articles:
Menus for people with fatty liver disease People with hepatitis B should abstain and should eat what? Diet for liver cancer patients

Because diet plays an important role in liver health, what a person with hepatobiliary disease should abstain is something to know to choose the right food for each meal.
Alcohol The liver is the organ that metabolizes alcohol. However, only a certain amount of alcohol can be metabolized in the liver in a limited amount of time.
When blood alcohol levels are too high, this function of the liver can be disrupted, leading to a chemical imbalance. If the liver is forced to constantly metabolize alcohol, liver cells can be destroyed or changed leading to fat accumulation, fatty liver and more serious problems, such as hepatitis. alcohol or permanent scar tissue formation such as cirrhosis.
Fructose Concentrated sources of fructose, especially fruit syrups, can stimulate liver fat production.
Therefore, foods high in fructose should be avoided, such as soft drinks, sweetened fruit drinks, some sweetened yogurts, sweetened breakfast cereals, canned fruits, bakery products (pastries, cookies, pies), prepared condiments such as sweet sauces, ketchup, jams, fruit jellies...
Saturated fats Major sources of saturated fat Mixed foods are frozen meat, red meat, butter and high-fat dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, bakery products, donuts... These are substances that are difficult to metabolize in the liver, tend to have a tendency to The tendency to increase fat accumulation in the parenchyma should be avoided by patients with liver disease.
Salt Finally, when the amount of sodium in the daily diet is too high, it can also negatively affect liver health. Some studies show that too much salt intake causes a number of changes in the liver, such as more susceptible cells to deformation, a faster rate of cell death, and a lower rate of cell division.

Bile is a liquid, containing digestive enzymes made in the liver that help break down fats in the small intestine. Diseases of the biliary tract cause obstruction, keeping bile from being secreted into the small intestine.
Dietary recommendations:
Limit consumption of animal fats, saturated fats Use non-trans fats substitutes such as kernel oil, olive oil, corn oil, sunflower oil sunflower oil, peanut oil... as these require less bile to break down fats than other oils. Cirrhosis Cirrhosis is a condition in which dense scar tissue forms in the liver, hardening and loss of liver function.
Dietary recommendations:
Limit salt and foods high in salt Limit the amount of protein in the diet Fatty liver disease Fatty liver disease is the accumulation of fat in liver cells.
Dietary recommendations:
Limit high-calorie foods Increase fiber-rich foods Iron overload liver disease Iron overload liver disease is an inherited disorder of iron metabolism in the liver. accumulation of iron in the liver as well as in other organs.
Dietary recommendations:
Do not eat foods with iron Do not use iron pots and pans to prepare food Do not take medications with iron Do not eat undercooked shellfish Wilson's disease Wilson's disease is pathology that causes the accumulation of copper in the body.
Dietary advice:
Limit foods with copper such as chocolate, nuts, shellfish and mushrooms Do not use copper pots for food preparation

Diet has a direct link to liver health, how people with liver disease should eat is a very important thing to pay attention to to protect comprehensive health. The above information will help you better understand what foods that liver disease should eat, what liver disease should abstain from so that the patient will have a way to choose the right food, preserve the function of the liver for a long time. long.
General Internal Medicine Department of Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the prestigious departments for examination and treatment of liver diseases, highly appreciated by patients and experts. Here, a team of highly qualified, dedicated, enthusiastic and experienced doctors help patients have the most effective treatment regimens.

References: liverfoundation.org , britishlivertrust.org.uk , medlineplus.gov , health.qld.gov.au