How to make the liver strong....simple, Don't poison it!

I often get asked by people on social media, casual meetings or in my clinic what they can do to make their liver strong.

I have only one answer for them..."Don't poison your liver , it will remain strong"

Although my statement may seem anodyne or lacking in scientific basis, there is nothing further you need to do to keep your liver strong.

Almost everyone is born with normal liver structure and function. The liver is an amazing organ with hundreds of functions with more being recognised constantly.

The picture above captures only some of the functions of the liver as the list of functions is too exhaustive to enumerate in a simple manner.

Apart from being this amazing organ, the liver is also a remarkably resilient organ that possesses built in mechanisms to filter, breakdown or neutralise substances that could damage it.
Apart from this there is a significant redundancy or reserve built into the liver which allows it to keep functioning even when only one-third of it is structurally intact.

The liver also possesses the unique ability to repair and regenerate lifelong so that the damaged cells are replaced by new normal cells barring exceptional circumstances where there is sudden and massive damage to the entire liver.

From the above it must be clear to the readers that our liver is amazing, remarkably resilient and possesses almost inexhaustible capacity to repair damage. We should really be thankful to our liver for that.

So to reiterate, to keep our liver strong, we need not do much except to stop doing things that poison it beyond its capacity to repair and regenerate.

The liver is damaged by multitude of factors

drugs and toxins: including alcohol, certain medications, herbal products etc

excessive fat

infections caused by viruses including  hepatits and other viruses


So if we avoid all these factors to the best of our abilities, we are almost guaranteed to keep our liver healthy to last a life time.

There is no tonic or liver supplement that can keep your liver strong if you keep poisoning it by dietary excess, unnecessary toxic drugs, alcoholism or bad habits that keep on poisoning your liver, no matter what popular press or industry driven advertisements may proclaim.

Sometimes unavoidable medical situations require us to take medications or conditions like diabetes that lead to abnormal fatty acid metabolism may increase our risk of liver damage. Maintaining discipline, balanced diet and monitoring liver function under medical supervision can still effectively prevent liver dysfunction. Merely popping 'liver supplements' or unscientific 'liver cleanses' are unlikely to help despite the propaganda  surrounding them in social and popular media.

Once again dear readers

"if you want a strong liver....just don't poison it'