The liver detoxifies the body by removing toxins from bloodstream. The Department of Hepato-pancreato-biliary and Transplant Surgery at Singapore General Hospital shares the function of the liver and ways to keep it healthy.
You can have a healthy liver through simple lifestyle and dietary changes
Your liver is the largest solid organ in the body. To improve the health of your liver, all you need is to adopt some simple diet and lifestyle changes.
A healthy liver keeps your body’s regulatory, detoxification and metabolic functions in optimal condition. Fortunately, most liver problems are reversible or treatable if discovered early.
“The liver is an amazing organ which can regenerate and repair itself. The liver is a very forgiving organ, but like everything in life, it has its limits. We only have one so we must take good care of it before it fails. You can stop a fatty liver condition or even reverse the process and prevent it from deteriorating into more serious conditions such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. This simply starts by making significant changes to your diet and lifestyle today,” says
Dr Lee Ser Yee, Senior Consultant,
Department of Hepato-pancreato-biliary and Transplant Surgery,
Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the
SingHealth group.
What does the liver do?
The liver is your body’s major cleaning house.
The liver detoxifies the body. It removes toxins from the bloodstream that are ingested from contaminated food, alcohol and medications.
A healthy liver regulates blood sugar (glucose) levels and removes bilirubin from the bloodstream. Bilirubin is a by-product from the normal breakdown of red blood cells.
In addition, the liver
processes food, extracts essential nutrients, and produces bile to digest fatty foods. Any excess nutrients are also stored in the liver.
Read on to learn
10 tips for a healthy liver.
Ref: P16
