Is your liver not working? Be careful of these five types of liver-damaging foods

There is a folk rumor that "spring is the best time to nourish the liver". However, if you want to nourish the liver, it is not as simple as just eating animal livers. The idea of ​​"like cures like" is not feasible and may not necessarily nourish the liver.

So compared to research

When it comes to what foods can nourish the liver, we might as well pay more attention to what foods can damage the liver. In fact, not damaging the liver in life is the best way to nourish the liver.

To nourish the liver in spring, it is best to eat less or avoid the five foods I am going to talk about next.

01 Do not eat moldy food

Do not eat moldy food: Moldy food may contain aflatoxin, which has long been listed as a Class 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Aflatoxin is 10 times more toxic than potassium cyanide and 68 times more toxic than arsenic. It is liver toxic and can increase the risk of liver cancer.

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Be careful with moldy nuts, crude oil, improperly stored grains, soybeans, etc. If you eat moldy, bitter, or rancid peanuts and melon seeds, be sure to spit them out and rinse your mouth.

02 Eat less high-fat and high-sugar foods:

Regular intake of foods high in fat (especially saturated fatty acids), high in cholesterol, and high in fructose in the diet increases the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, such as fatty meat, butter, coconut oil, palm oil, offal, and sugary drinks.

03 Drink less or no alcohol

Alcohol can damage the health of the liver. More than 90% of the ethanol that the human body ingests through drinking needs to be metabolized in the liver, which puts a great burden on the liver.

Long-term and excessive intake of ethanol and its metabolite acetaldehyde acetic acid can cause great damage to the liver and reduce the liver's ability to detoxify certain poisons, leading to liver lesions. In severe cases, it can also induce liver cancer.

If you really want to drink, it is best to control the amount of alcohol to no more than 15 grams, which is equivalent to 450 mL of beer, 150 mL of wine, and 50 mL of liquor. Therefore, if you want to protect the health of your liver, drink less if you can, and don't drink if you can.

Photo courtesy of the author

Therefore, if you want to protect the health of your liver, drink less alcohol if possible, and don't drink alcohol if possible.

04 Try not to drink fruit juice

In the eyes of many people, fruit juice is a healthy drink. Compared with sweet drinks, fruit juice is indeed healthier, but this does not mean that it can be drunk with confidence. It is too easy to drink too much fruit juice after it is squeezed, and you may consume too much sugar, which will increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and is not conducive to blood sugar and weight control.

So if you want to keep your liver healthy, try not to drink a lot of fruit juice. It’s best to eat fruit directly.

05 Do not eat undercooked shellfish

Shellfish are filter feeders that obtain food and nutrients by filtering seawater, and may carry various viruses and bacteria. For safety reasons, make sure to eat them thoroughly cooked.

To sum up, there is actually no food that can nourish the liver. The best way to protect liver health is to try not to eat foods that can damage the liver. Only when the liver is healthy will the complexion look better.

The article is produced by Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project (Creation and Cultivation). Please indicate the source when reprinting.

Author: Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered nutrition technician, health manager, public nutritionist

Reviewer: Wu Ping Director of Clinical Nutrition Department, Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University