The liver is an organ that plays a highly significant role in the human body. People often ignore and worry less about their liver health unless they get diagnosed with liver disease such as fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, etc. It’s imperative to take care of your liver. The liver regulates many of your body’s functions, such as regulation of metabolism, digestion, excretion of toxins, and conversion of nutrients to necessary materials for later use by the body. You must know what to eat, and you should be aware of the food to avoid to keep your liver healthy. Living off a diet of junk affects your liver far more than you consuming healthy diets.

 To keep your liver healthy and running, stick to fresh fruits, green tea (though in moderation), coffee, oatmeal, vegetables, eggs, nuts, grapes to help nourish and keep your liver happy. But do you know the worst foods for your liver? Below are the worst foods for your liver health.

1. Soda

Sodas are liver stressors. They’re actually full of high fructose corn syrup, commonly known as HFCS. These HFCS are one of the worst substances ( though they can be legal at some rate) to which you can expose your poor liver. Besides blood filtering, the liver also functions in converting sugar into fat. As a result, consuming too much of any sweetener will make your liver produce too much fat, which will not be good for your health as excess fat can lead to fatty liver disease. Although this may sound silly, it’s actually a highly unpleasant and very dangerous situation. Apart from this, excessive soda consumption is also a major cause of weight gain and obesity in people. In fact, even if the soda you consume is made of sugar instead of HFCS, it’s still bad.

2. Alcohol

If you’re into alcohol and want to care for your liver, you need to quit drinking immediately. When you take too much alcohol, your liver tries to break it down. However, the chemical reaction in this process can damage its cells leading to inflammation, scarring(fibrosis), or cell death. Excessive alcohol consumption can also increase toxic effects on the liver, block nutrients absorption, and lead to liver cirrhosis (which is the irreversible scarring of the liver). In fact, people with cirrhosis can develop complications such as liver cancer, jaundice, vomiting blood, or excess fluid accumulation in the body. In addition, as per Western countries, the limit for alcohol consumption is 14 units/ week for both genders spread over the entire week. 

3. Fatty/Fast Food Items

Fatty or fast food items such as wafers, pizza, burgers, and french fries are not really good for your liver. These foods are high in trans-fat or saturated fats and are usually difficult to digest. These fats can decrease the good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol in the body and also increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, as well as fatty liver. It can as well give rise to inflammation over time and eventually convert into cirrhosis. 

4. Red Meat

Although red meat may contain a reasonable amount of protein needed by the body, digesting them is a hard task for your liver. Generally, breaking down proteins is not an easy task for the liver and can sometimes lead to many liver-related issues. Also, you should know that egg whites are good for your liver, but over-consumption can lead to digestion problems, and also, the yolk is a source of bad cholesterol.

 Excessive protein build-up in your liver can result in fatty liver diseases that have adverse effects on the kidney and brain. So, eating red meat moderately is still good, but the moment you deviate from this, you are risking the health of your liver.

5. Food Items Rich in Salt

Generally, salt is never easy on the liver; therefore, foods high in salt are bad for your liver, too, because excessive salt intake can lead to water retention in your body. If you want your liver to stay healthy, you must try to avoid consuming processed food items, canned food, and any other food items that are high in sodium content. Also, avoid processed cheese and packaged savory snacks like salty biscuits, mixtures, and chips. Why? Because they all contain high saturated fat and salt levels. In summary, excessive consumption of these foods can lead to fatty liver disease and obesity.

6. Bread

It is necessary to refrain from bread, pasta, and pizza made from white flour. And that’s because they lack essential minerals, vitamins, and fiber. You should also know that highly refined grains convert into sugar content. This content is hard to process, and they end up becoming fat in the liver, which is one of the causes of fatty liver diseases. So, it’s best to choose other healthy alternatives to keep your liver safe and healthy.