6 Interesting Facts About The Functioning Of The Human Liver

Most people only remember the existence of the liver after a season of drunkenness. Here comes the promise of never putting a drop of alcohol in your mouth again, usually accompanied by a giant glass of water or any very cold soda. You know, now let's get serious: what do you know about this very important organ for the functioning of the human body? The Irish Examiner has published a number of facts about the liver. Check out some of them below:

1 - Can you prevent

Most diseases that affect the liver are related to excessive alcohol consumption, obesity and also the emergence of viral hepatitis. This means that reducing alcohol consumption and losing weight are already measures that can improve organ health.

2 - After a drunkenness, your liver needs a few days to recover

The good news is that you don't have to stop drinking forever, but whenever you overdose, don't drink for at least three days. So your liver can recover from the excessive hassle you decided to give the poor guy.

When you do not give this time for the liver to regenerate, you are simply compromising the functioning of the largest internal organ in your body.

3 - Different Functions

If you are wondering what the magical functions of the liver are after all - besides processing the alcohol that occasionally enters your body - be smart, because we are talking about a multidisciplinary body, responsible for different tasks, such as producing proteins and blood clotting factors, assisting the digestive process and energy release, and storing energy and iron.

In addition, the liver purifies the blood and can free it from some unwanted bacteria and harmful substances such as alcohol. So since you can't have much control over the bacteria that might invade your bloodstream, you can at least control the amount of alcohol that enters. Stay smart.

4 - When the liver gets sick

Liver cirrhosis caused by excess alcohol begins to cause liver fat to accumulate, a feature known as 'alcoholic fatty liver disease'. The next stage, known as “alcoholic hepatitis”, is already more severe and is characterized when there is alcohol abuse for a long period. At this stage, the liver tissues are inflamed.

Although the situation is not the best, until this second phase it is possible to reverse the damage to the organ, and the best way is to stop the consumption of any amount of alcohol. Those who continue to drink even after alcoholic hepatitis eventually develop cirrhosis, which is when the liver is badly damaged. Cirrhosis is a serious disease and can be fatal.

5 - Silent Symptoms

The problem with liver disease is that they are asymptomatic at first, that is: you may have them and you don't know them because they have no symptoms or your symptoms are confused with general feelings of malaise, tiredness, lack of appetite, loss weight loss, abdominal pain, itching and vomiting.

Already when the disease is advanced, the patient may have jaundice, bleeding, drowsiness, fever, swelling of the abdomen and legs, black stools and vomiting with blood. In the presence of any of these symptoms, it is always wise to seek medical attention.

6 - Recipes for a Healthy Liver

To keep your body healthy, bet on a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Stop consuming very sweet drinks, exercise regularly so that the fat in the organ is burned, protect yourself when having sex, and respect the three-day alcohol-free period after a drink.

* Posted on 01/20/2015