The liver is one of the few organs in the human body that is capable of self-regeneration. Like the tail of a lizard, the liver, even after almost complete loss of its functions, “grows” anew. Alas, after the diagnosis of cirrhosis is received, this is no longer possible. In order not to bring this important organ to such a condition, medications that support the liver should be taken regularly. In pharmacology, such drugs are called hepatoprotectors.
Factors that affect the liver
Depending on a combination of factors, a person may be more or less predisposed to the development of chronic liver diseases, most of which subsequently lead to cirrhosis:
- hereditary factor;
- regular abuse of alcohol and drugs;
- chronic alcoholism and drug addiction;
- drug dependence ;
- the need for large doses of antibiotic drugs;
- the need for chemo and radiotherapy;
- regular presence in an area with increased radioactive background;
- malnutrition;
- chronic diseases of the pancreas and gall bladder.
Antibiotics and liver function
Some modern antibiotic drugs do not have toxic effects on the liver. However, most of the drugs of the old generation are very toxic not only for the liver, but also for the whole organism. Therefore, taking such drugs should be strictly according to the instructions and do not exceed the recommended dosage. In parallel with antibiotics, you can take a course of drugs that support the liver. For example, "Essential" while taking with antibiotics will help keep liver cells healthy. It will also provide effective protection of the body from metabolites of the breakdown of antibiotic drugs.
How to support the liver while taking other toxic medicines? You should adhere to clinical nutrition on the principles of table No. 5, completely eliminate alcohol. Tea and coffee should be replaced with choleretic infusion of herbs.
If the patient is forced to undergo chemotherapy, then he should take care of the liver in advance. How to support the liver at such a moment? Most doctors warn patients that if hepatoprotectors are not taken, toxic hepatitis is more likely to develop. In some cases, even high dosages of expensive drugs do not help, and in the third or fourth year of chemotherapy, toxic hepatitis can no longer be avoided.
Nutrition and the liver: relationship
Do not underestimate the effect of proper nutrition on internal organs. Of course, sometimes liver diseases develop due to a hereditary factor - but the likelihood of such a development of events is negligible - only about 0.3% of the total number of patients. In some cases, hepatitis is viral in nature. All other cases are provoked by the fault of the patients themselves. For decades, people have been malnourished and abused, and then seek the answer to the question of how to support the liver.
Even with cirrhosis (and this disease is considered to be incurable by official medicine), you should reconsider your diet and start eating properly. It is a proven fact that in some cases this helps the patient save about ten years of life. And if the diagnosis of cirrhosis has not yet been made, then changing your eating habits will help to maintain good health and restore liver cells.
What foods are harmful to the liver and pancreas: list
How to support the liver and pancreas? The following foods and dishes should be excluded once and for all from the diet:
- high-calorie confectionery, especially if trans fats were used in their production;
- any alcoholic drinks;
- sweet carbonated drinks;
- fat milk, cottage cheese (optimal fat content - not more than 3.2%);
- fried in oil in a pan or deep-fried dishes;
- fast food;
- fatty meats - pork, lamb;
- nuts and seeds (100 grams per week are allowed, because of the high amount of fat, people with liver diseases do not want to eat them);
- salmon fish.
These rules should be followed strictly. Even one fact of violation and inclusion in the diet, for example, of fat pork kebab with beer can provoke an attack of pancreatitis and the patient will have to be hospitalized. Having decided to switch to proper nutrition, you must follow it for the rest of your life. Any hepatologist will confirm that often the diet works miracles with serious pathologies.
Alcoholic beverages and liver condition
Alcoholism is the most common cause of death from cirrhosis. Before the power of alcohol, everyone is powerless - both rich and poor, and men, and women. After three years of regular abuse of alcohol, hepatitis develops. If you do not reconsider your habits, cirrhosis develops in 10-12 years. And this is a fatal diagnosis, which cannot be eliminated even with the help of the most expensive drugs.
There is only one way out of this situation - a complete restriction on the use of any alcoholic beverages. Even a harmless-looking beer can trigger the development of beer alcoholism, which is just as destructive for liver cells and pancreas.
Refusal of alcohol and condition of internal organs
Medicine knows tens of thousands of cases when, after a complete rejection of alcohol in people, chronic pancreatitis, hepatitis, and cholecystitis passed. It is very important for the patient to be honest with himself: refusing alcohol means full control over his condition. If a sick person continues to use "one hundred grams" every weekend - you can not think about recovery.
Already in the first month after a person decides to lead a sober lifestyle and eat right, positive changes in the body begin. Even without taking special medications, the complexion freshens, sleep normalizes, yellowness of the sclera (characteristic of people with liver diseases) goes away, and working capacity increases.
Therapeutic diet for the liver: menu for the week
How to support the liver with a diet? You should familiarize yourself with the medical table No. 5 and adhere to the principles of nutrition described there. Here is an approximate diet for a week, you can swap dishes. Total calories per day should be about 2000 kcal for women and 2800 for men.
Monday
- Breakfast: oatmeal on the water, a handful of berries, a glass of low-fat kefir.
- Lunch: lean soup with dumplings, vegetable stew and steamed cutlets of turkey or chicken.
- Snack: packing of dietary bread and briquette of low-fat cottage cheese.
- Dinner: a piece of halibut or other low-fat fish, grilled or stewed with vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: buckwheat porridge with milk and honey.
- Snack: banana or apple.
- Lunch: lean borsch, vegetable salad with vegetable oil.
- Dinner: kefir and fruit smoothie.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: a glass of yogurt, one fruit.
- Snack: 50 grams of nuts.
- Lunch: okroshka, omelet from vegetables and two chicken eggs.
- Dinner: a glass of fat-free kefir, a package of cottage cheese with berries and fruits.
Thursday
- Breakfast: oatmeal and a cup of coffee.
- Snack: vegetable salad.
- Lunch: veal goulash with buckwheat porridge, vegetable salad.
- Snack: pollock fillet or chum salmon.
- Dinner: honey casserole from cottage cheese and eggs.
Friday
- Breakfast: vegetable salad with boiled meat and some fruits.
- Snack: yogurt.
- Lunch: lean borscht, grilled fish.
- Dinner: a few slices of cheese with low fat content.
Saturday
- Breakfast: buckwheat porridge with milk and honey, a glass of fat-free kefir.
- Lunch: lean soup with dumplings, vegetable stew.
- Snack: packing of dietary bread and briquette of low-fat cottage cheese.
- Dinner: oven-baked fish and fresh salad.
Sunday
- Breakfast: oatmeal, yogurt.
- Lunch: lean borsch and omelette pizza using low-fat cheese.
- Snack: several fruits.
- Dinner: grilled fish and vegetables of any kind.
Varieties of hepatoprotectors: which are better
Pills that support the liver are divided into the following classes:
- essential phospholipids;
- preparations with bioflavonoids of plant origin;
- based on ursodeoxycholic acid;
- derivatives of amino acids.
Depending on the stage of the disease and the condition of the liver, various combinations of these hepatoprotectors with immunomodulating or antiviral drugs may be prescribed.
Medical advice: which hepatoprotector to choose
To choose a tool that supports the liver, you should consult a gastroenterologist or hepatologist. Some patients do not have this possibility, so you can buy the drug yourself.
- If there is no serious diagnosis yet, and the patient thinks how to support the liver during a period of heavy feasts, then you can take a course of essential phospholipids. These include the well-known Essential.
- If not so long ago a person experienced severe poisoning - you can take the Heptral course. But it is more effective with intravenous administration, so it makes sense to seek the advice of a hepatologist and take a course of injection of the drug.
- If the patient regularly abuses alcoholic beverages and is looking for a way to reduce the toxic effect on the liver, it makes sense to take Karsil or Essentiale on an ongoing basis.
- If the patient has problems with the outflow of bile or is diagnosed with chronic cholecystitis, it makes sense to stick to a diet and take a long (about a year) course of Ursosan. This is an excellent modern hepatoprotector based on ursodeoxycholic acid.
- How to support the liver while taking medication? At the same time, you should drink the Heptral course - this will be enough.
The most popular drugs for healing the liver
Statistics show that ordinary people most often buy "Carsil". Apparently, they are attracted by its plant composition. In fact, this hepatoprotector has a rather low efficiency. Some hepatologists consider it a medicine with a placebo effect, since the dose of silymarin, which is part of the Karsila tablet, is too small to achieve a therapeutic effect for liver cells.
Much better is Essential, which contains essential phospholipids that can repair cells faster and more efficiently. This is a drug that has the best value for money. A package with 60 capsules costs about a thousand rubles.
"Heptral" is another popular hepatoprotector, which also has a mild antidepressant effect (this is indicated by the instructions for the drug). A rather high cost makes this medicine relatively unpopular - a package of 20 tablets is about one and a half thousand. But according to the action, Heptral has a much more powerful effect on liver cells than Karsil or preparations of essential phospholipids.
How to support the liver and pancreas: simple tips
Many people do not want to take pharmacy drugs under any circumstances. How can the liver be supported if there is no possibility or desire to take hepatoprotectors. Experts recommend the following measures:
- to give up smoking;
- refusal of alcoholic beverages;
- compliance with nutritional rules for medical diet No. 5;
- not allow psycho-emotional stress;
- avoid overwork;
- Avoid hypothermia, sunburn and sudden temperature changes.
These tips seem simple, but the average adult is hard to follow on an ongoing basis. That's why chronic diseases develop: a disregard for one’s own body always leads to disastrous consequences.