Feeling stressed out? Did you know that your liver might be feeling the same way?
When it comes to dealing with stress, our coping mechanisms tend to be less than healthy. The usual things that relax us or at least make us feel temporarily satiated – like getting wasted, binge-watching until the wee hours of the morning, or feasting on french-fries and chicken nuggets – aren’t really the best things for our liver.
As you know, the liver is the body’s great filter. It wants to take out the bad and absorb the good, which is why most detox cleanses focus on this giant, regenerating organ. But what happens to it when we put more bad than good in our body?
Before you reach for that liver detox cleanse supplement, nip the problem in the bud by kicking these three unhealthy habits that aren’t doing your liver any favors.
Drinking too much alcohol
Our liver is responsible for processing our food, passing the nutritious contents to other parts of our body, and redirecting the toxins to the waste bin.
When you drink alcohol, the liver gets distracted from this task and ends up using all its energy to turn the alcohol into something less toxic. This activity produces a chemical reaction that harms the liver’s cells. If this keeps up, it will end up inflamed, scarred, and could stop functioning altogether.
The amount of alcohol you drink and the duration that you’ve been drinking determines whether or not you’re going to end up with a liver disease. Occasional light drinking is alright, but if you go through a six-pack, a bottle of wine, or half a dozen shots of hard liquor in one sitting, time to reevaluate your drinking habit.
Lack of proper sleep affects your liver
Sleep is something we all take for granted. There always seems to be something more important to do than getting the recommended 7-8 hours a day of shuteye.
When you lack sleep, your liver suffers from oxidative stress. This means it becomes less efficient in getting rid of toxins and processing fat, leading to obesity and other health problems.
This doesn’t mean that any kind of sleep can cut it either. Our body relies on its circadian rhythm to schedule major biological functions such as releasing important hormones and repairing damaged tissues.
Have you heard of the importance of the 10PM-2AM sleep window? This period is the peak rest and repair hours. If you could, try to be in deep sleep by these hours to ensure that your liver repairs itself and function efficiently again.
Heavily processed food
If it comes in a can, plastic bottle, or a crinkly bag, that’s processed food. Anything that doesn’t come in its original form is processed. Even aged cheese has undergone some form of processing.
Modern society has made it inconvenient and expensive to commit to eating only whole foods. Now that you know what your liver goes through, maybe you’ll make better effort.
If you constantly eat food rich in fat, sugar, and other chemicals, your liver will have to break them down. If it becomes too much, it will become overwhelmed and end up leaving the fats in its own cells. This condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver. Left unchecked, this could lead to cancer.
The way to good health begins with yourself. No outside factor can give you that if you don’t develop the right mindset and habits. Your liver is your body’s very own detox machine, so help it do its job and avoid stressing it out.
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Related Topic: How to Know If Your Liver is Toxic
