8 Tips for a Healthy Liver
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Source: By Teresa Cheong for Health Xchange, with expert input from Dr Victor Lee Tswen Wen, Consultant, Department of General Surgery, Singapore General Hospital (SGH). | ||
Your liver may not be functioning at its optimal level if you have constant fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, and yellowing of skin and whites in the eyes. To improve the health of your liver, you need to give your diet and lifestyle an overhaul. A healthy liver keeps your body’s regulatory, detoxification and metabolic functions in tip top condition. Fortunately, most liver problems are reversible if discovered early. “The liver is an amazing organ which can rejuvenate itself. Liver failure develops over time. You can stop a fatty liver condition from deteriorating into more serious liver cirrhosis and liver cancer by making significant changes to your diet and lifestyle,” says Dr Victor Lee Tswen Wen, Consultant, Department of General Surgery at Singapore General Hospital (SGH). The liver is the body’s major cleaning and clearing house. A healthy liver regulates blood glucose levels and removes bilirubin from the bloodstream. Bilirubin is a byproduct from the normal breakdown of red blood cells. In addition, the liver processes food, extracting nutrients, and produces bile to digest fatty foods. Any excess nutrients are stored in the liver. The liver also detoxifies. It removes toxins that are ingested through alcohol, medications and contaminated food, from the bloodstream. 1. Moderate your alcohol intake 2. Cut down on fatty foods 3. Reduce body weight 4. Avoid over-supplementation with traditional medicines & remedies 5. Eat more fibre 6. Get vaccinated 7. Get regular exercise 8. Be careful of weight loss pills The Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and Transplant Service at the Department of General Surgery, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has an experienced team of surgeons who are adept at and perform a high volume of complex cases annually. The Service is a regional referral centre as well as a leading centre of clinical research. Over the past decade, SGH surgeons have performed more than a thousand complex liver and pancreatic operations – more than any institution in Singapore – with surgical outcomes on par with the very best centres worldwide. Article contributed by the Dept of General Surgery at: Ref. T12 Term of Use / Disclaimer | ||