Regular Exercise, Safe Medication Usage: 6 Tips For Better Liver Health

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking to one of India’s top liver doctors, Dr Shiv Sarin at an event. We discussed his book Own Your Body: A Doctor’s Life Saving Tips. Something that came up in our conversation was how heart diseases are often top of mind for individuals, given how dramatic their presentation is and the coverage it gets on media each time a celebrity suffers a heart attack. The same cannot be said about the level of awareness about liver diseases, even though they are as common or even more so.

The liver often goes about its business quietly, filtering toxins, aiding digestion, and regulating metabolism, unless it is abused (of course, genetic conditions, aside). Excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, obesity, and misuse of medications often get the liver into trouble. It can lead to conditions such as fatty liver disease (fat buildup in liver cells), cirrhosis (scarring and damage to liver cells), hepatitis (inflammation of liver cells), and liver cancer, which are often not noticed until they reach an advanced stage.

While the awareness of liver health is low, the misconceptions are high — for example, people assume that certain foods will ‘detoxify’ the liver or having a ‘liver tonic’ will reverse the ill effects of drinking alcohol and so on.

This is why Dr Sarin’s book is such an important read for everyone keen to know more about protecting their liver from damage or even reverse the damage to whatever extent possible. This is valuable advice from a doctor who has distilled all his wisdom into easy-to-follow and implement nuggets.

In this week’s column, I’m sharing six valuable tips for a healthy liver, as learnt from Dr Sarin’s book.

Limit/Avoid Alcohol Consumption: Dr Sarin emphasises that alcohol is a primary cause of liver damage, advocating for moderation to prevent liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis. His advice to people who are overweight or diabetic or born in a family with a history of metabolic disorders is to steer clear of alcohol. In diabetics, alcohol increases the risk of liver disease even in smaller doses for shorter durations. Alcohol also adds to the risk of developing diabetes. What most people think is moderate drinking is not quite so. “Moderate drinking is generally limited to one drink a day for women and men older than 65 years and up to two drinks a day for men under 65 years.” The truth is that there is no prescribed safe limit of alcohol for anybody.

Also Read: How To Embrace A Teetotaler Life If You’re Looking To Quit Alcohol

Healthy Diet: Consume a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Pay special attention to the fructose content of carbohydrates you eat and choose ones with a low fructose level. Table sugar, corn syrup, and colas all contain high levels of fructose and are bad for the liver when consumed regularly, increasing liver fat content and triglyceride levels in the blood. Make sure you consume whole foods with high levels of dietary fibre. Dr Sarin also recommends that you include millets in your diet. Short spells of fasting or time-restricted eating is another concept that can be paired along with a healthy diet.

Also Read: How To Eat Healthy In Tune With Your Lifestyle: 9 Tips For Holistic Eating

Regular Exercise: Physical activity helps reduce liver fat. Exercise works as a ‘physiological supplement’ to improve the quality of life and prevent ageing. He recommends a minimum of 45 minutes of workout a day in any form after sweating starts (warm-up stage). It is heartening to note that 45 minutes of aerobic or resistance training can help clear the fat from the liver even if there is not much reduction in overall weight.

Also Read: Exercise Alone Can’t Offset Ill Effects Of Sitting. Here’s How To Have Active Days

Safe Medication Use: Follow prescriptions and avoid unnecessary drugs. In India, with most chemists providing almost all drugs over-the-counter, it is important to be aware that some drugs can harm your liver, even the ones that claim to be herbal or Ayurvedic, which people often assume to be harmless and side-effect free, which is not the case. Stay off self-medications.

Maintain Body Weight: Maintain a healthy weight to prevent fatty liver. If you are overweight or obese, get your liver fat levels checked immediately. Liver cancer is 2-3 times more common in patients with fatty liver disease.

Regular Liver Checkups: Routine health checkups can catch early signs of liver problems. ALT and AST (formerly known as SGPT and SGOT) are two of the tests done as a part of the liver function test panel, which are important biomarkers for liver health, higher than normal values indicating liver injury. The lipid profile is also an important part of the checkup. High levels of lipids are usually associated with fatty liver. Some tests measure liver fat values and stiffness that indicate the level of fat in the liver and fibrosis (Controlled Attenuation Parameter along with FibroScan). Incorporate specific liver tests as a part of corporate health checkups for employees.

Also Read: Regular Health Checkups Must For Timely Detection And Treatment Of Diseases

As Dr. Sarin said, "Health should be a family business." By incorporating these steps into your life and the lives of your loved ones, you can help ensure that your liver serves you well throughout your lifetime.

Also Read: How To Live A Long And Healthy Life? This Book Has Some Answers