Alcohol Consumption And Liver Toxicity

Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN & Amy Coates, RHN, BSc.

When it comes to alcohol and your body in general, moderation is the absolute key. All alcohol is sugar, which causes your blood sugar to spike rapidly. For that reason alone you must be careful. It is also important to remember that a small amount of red wine can deliver antioxidants and phytonutrients to your body, and so can actually be good for you.

The problem between alcohol and the liver arises due to excessive drinking. Just three stiff drinks a day for three years can really put the damage on. For your liver, this kind of alcohol consumption can be devastating.

Chronic heavy drinking literally makes your liver fat. The tissue becomes fatty, and fatty deposits build up, blocking liver cells from fresh blood supplies. Without a fresh blood supply to supply the liver with oxygen and other nutrients, these cells die off. As this goes on, the entire liver can become useless.

This fattening and dying process causes cirrhosis, and it is deadly. Cirrhosis actually refers to the build up of useless, dead, scar tissue that replaces living cells. Cirrhosis, in its early stages, causes jaundice (skin yellowing), fatigue, and swelling of the abdomen and lower extremities.

Of course, most of us don’t drink so excessively that we will experience cirrhosis of the liver in just three years. Many of us drink somewhere around 3 to 4 stiff drinks a week. Even this, however, can put enough stress on the liver that it will need a break and a good detox.

Think about it, your liver deals with a lot of stress, even without alcohol. Our environments are toxic and much of the toxic foods we eat also contains things like mercury, pesticides, herbicides, and unnatural preservatives. Adding alcohol in is just piling on one more obstacle for your liver to navigate.  The liver does not just deal with toxins; every single thing you eat must be processed by the liver.

That is why it is important to make sure you eat the healthiest diet possible, and severely limit your alcohol consumption, even completely curbing it for a few months out of the year to help your body regenerate and perform a detox diet. If that sounds extreme, we understand, but it only makes sense that we balance our less desirable habits with moderation and periods of abstinence, simply to allow our bodies to process, heal, and regenerate.

Your liver, like the rest of your body, needs proper care and nutrients so that it functions well for years to come. Moderating your alcohol consumption and eating a natural, healthy diet is the best way to keep your liver healthy and efficient. Believe us, it might not be easy at first, but it will surely be worth it.

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