Is complaining bad for your Liver?

How many times have you heard that being in a bad mood damages the liver.  Our mothers and grandmothers have told us dozens of times, until they’re blue in the fact, not to complain because later, you’ll pay the consequences with liver illness.

And what’s more, if you ever did come down with a liver condition, I bet you probably heard “Well, you do complain a lot…”

Absurdity

Nothing further from the truth!  Currently there is no health professional that has confirmed that any direct relation exists between bad moods and liver disease.  If you search on the Internet, you might find commentaries from people that wonder, but there is no medicine around that certifies it.

I was talking about this with a doctor, a friend of mine, and as he listened to my questions, he blatantly denied them, stating that they were only myths, with no foundation either in science or medicine.

There are hundreds of myths just like this one that have grown over the years, spreading throughout the world.  We’re not trying to create any sort of ode to bad moods, because of course, even though they may not affect the liver, they do affect emotional stability and could have other repercussions in your surroundings.  You could mistreat the people around you or it could even affect your blood pressure and cause stress.

Taking care of your liver

If bad moods don’t affect your liver, this does not mean that you don’t need to watch out for it and stop worrying about it because nothing can affect it.  You need to know that this organ is the great bodily cleanser, and it is responsible for more than 500 functions, although some believe it could be responsible for even more.

One way of taking care of it is by not consuming excessive amounts of fats and carbohydrates.  That’s because whenever you eat, this organ begins one of its functions, which is to synthesize proteins from necessary nutrients for health.  If these foods exceed the liver’s capacity, they remain stored, making good functioning difficult.  It even creates the risk of contaminating the entire body.

Symptoms

The worrisome part is that generally, it is overloaded with foods, fats or carbohydrates, which are referred to as fatty liver disease and has almost no symptoms.  The worst part is that if it is not treated in time, it could cause serious consequences over time, like cancer, commonly known as cirrhosis.

So now you’ve been informed.  You can sicken your liver by not following correct dietary habits.

What to eat

Are you asking yourself right now which foods are the healthiest for cleansing and detoxifying your liver?  Well, fruits and vegetables are.  Out of this first group, those that contain vitamin C are the best, like camu camu, oranges, kiwi, strawberries, grapes.

Out of vegetables, the ones with the most cleansing value are lettuce, spinach, artichoke, asparagus, radishes, celery, squash, beets, tomatoes and carrots.

What you should avoid

If you don’t want to sicken your liver, it is important that you reduce your alcohol consumption.  You also shouldn’t use too much salt or sugar.  Avoid condiments and fried food.  If you are going to eat meat, remove the fat from it.  Avoid fast food and processed foods.

Include…

We also recommend you divide your meals into five daily meals, reducing portion sizes.  Drink a lot of water and don’t forget to exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 12/29/2017

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