Science Popularization | Do you know what behaviors can damage the liver? How to protect our liver?

March 18, 2025 is the 25th "National Liver Care Day". The liver is one of the "busiest" organs in the human body. It is responsible for the body's metabolism, material synthesis, transformation and transportation, immunity, digestion and other tasks. However, some unhealthy lifestyles can cause liver damage. How can we prevent liver disease and protect the liver scientifically?

In this episode of "Meet for Popular Science", let us follow Zhu Yueyong, chief physician of the Department of Hepatology, Liver Disease Center , the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, and Qiu Rongxian, director and chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Putian University , to learn how to protect your "little liver" and prevent it from getting hurt!

Protect your liver and don't let it get hurt

1What are the functions of the liver?

Metabolism, the metabolism of sugar, lipids, and proteins in the human body, all need to be carried out in the liver. The human body's very important coagulation factor function is also almost synthesized in the liver. As the chemical factory of the human body, the liver also has a detoxification function **. The liver can also secrete bile to help digest and absorb fat, and has an immune function that can remove pathogenic microorganisms in the human body and protect the body's health.

2What behaviors can damage the liver?

01Eating

High-fat, high-calorie foods can put a heavy burden on the liver. Long-term high-fat, high-sugar diets can lead to fat accumulation in the liver, which can cause fatty liver.

02Drink

Most of the alcohol we drink needs to be metabolized by the liver. The damage of acetaldehyde and ethanol to the liver cannot be ignored. Long-term and large-scale drinking will increase the burden on the liver and cause alcoholic liver damage.

03Staying up late

Due to the pressure of lifestyle, work and study, people's work and rest schedules are constantly adjusted backwards. When staying up late, the liver cannot repair itself, which will lead to decreased liver function over time. Eating midnight snacks after staying up late also increases the burden on liver metabolism.

04 Drug Abuse

If you take too much or illegal drugs, your liver may be attacked by toxins because it does not have time to "detoxify" and cause liver damage.

3How to protect our liver?

The liver has an incredible ability to repair and regenerate itself. When transplanting an organ, only about 1/3 of the liver is needed to grow a complete liver. Therefore, before cirrhosis, some damage is reversible, and everyone must learn to love and protect our liver.