8 Common Habits that damage your Liver

Liver plays a significant role in keeping the body properly functioning and toxin-free, which makes it one of the most vital organs of the body. Everything you put inside your body is processed by the liver. Although the best thing about this organ is that it can automatically replace its damaged cells and even restore itself, after a certain point its ability to repair itself is disabled, especially if we continue with our damaging habits. Here is a list of such habits which can damage your liver and which you need to stop following immediately.

Consumption of alcohol in heavy amounts can cause damage to the liver. The excessive amount of alcohol reduces the liver’s ability to remove toxins from the body. According to a recent study having three glasses of alcohol everyday is definite to cause liver cancer.

Your liver performs the role of breaking down substances that are supplied from the mouth, including medicines, herbs and supplements. However, consumption of all these in excess can slowly harm the liver and lead to a mild to severe liver failure.

There are numerous side-effects of smoking and liver damage is one of them. The effect of cigarette smoke impacts the organ indirectly. The toxic chemicals present in cigarette smoke gradually reach the liver and cause oxidative stress, producing free radicals that damage liver cells.

Surprisingly, sleep deprivation can have some serious-effects on your liver's condition. It was found in a study that sleeplessness can cause oxidative stress to the liver.

Your poor eating habits can damage the liver over a period of time, just like over consumption of alcohol. Eating too many wrong foods can cause fat to build up in the liver.

Eating high amount of processed foods can be harmful for the liver. Processed foods are often loaded with preservatives, additives and artificial sweeteners.

Fruits and green leafy vegetables are excellent sources of antioxidants and supply beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, zinc and selenium in abundance to the body, which keeps the liver healthy.

Vitamin B12, which is mainly available in meat, can help the liver in the flow of bile. There are other B vitamins that can play a vital role in the detoxification of the liver and can be easily found in fruits, nuts, egg yolks, poultry, fish, legumes and brown rice.

Image courtesy: Getty Images