Vitamins for Healthy Liver
The liver is the central processing center for vitamins and minerals in the body. It helps you absorb the nutrients in food and it aids in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The liver is helped more by what you avoid than by what you take in, but there are several vitamins and minerals that can contribute to liver health.
Vitamins and Minerals to Use
Vitamin A is linked to the prevention of your liver accumulating tough, fibrous tissue that is characteristic of a disease. A diet rich in vitamin A can help to reduce damage in a diseased liver. If you take in too much of the vitamin, however, it may cause disease and liver enlargement. A University of Turin study showed that vitamin E may prevent against cirrhosis and liver damage. The vitamin may provide protection by reducing the spreading of lipid oxidation processes and limiting the damage that the oxidation causes. Beta carotene's contributions are twofold, healing a deficiency that may occur in liver damage and attacking free radicals that may cause liver damage in the first place. The liver uses low-density lipoproteins to remove fat fragments, but it cannot send out these fragments when there is a deficiency of choline. Lecithin supplementation, which raises blood choline levels, can take care of this problem. There is also speculation that B-vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin D can help the liver when given in normal doses (See References 1 and 2).
Vitamins and Minerals to Limit
Since the liver processes all nutrients in the body, an abundance of any vitamin over the recommended amount has the potential of causing problems. Vitamin K in large doses may produce jaundice, a disease related to the liver. Sustained released vitamins that contain niacin have been said to be hepatoxic by researchers at VCU. Biotin may cause enlargement of the liver when taken in large amounts over long periods of time. Also, there are many herbs that can cause problems in the liver. If you have liver problems or are considering taking the following herbs, consult your doctor before using: black cohosh, chaparral, ma-huang, comfrey, greater celadine, germander, kava, pennyroyal, mistletoe, valerian and skullcap (See References 2 and 3).
Other Liver Tips
Avoid using alcohol to excess as it makes your liver overwork and can lead to great damage. Don't combine medications with alcohol of any kind. Try to stay away from environmental pollutants like aerosol sprays, paint thinner and bug sprays. Also, eat a healthy and balanced diet to ensure that your liver is not receiving too much or too little of anything at all (See Resource 1).
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