Ways You Can Improve Your Quality of Life


© Sharon Nicholson
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The following is a short list of way you can begin to improve your life. The advice given is that of a researcher on Hepatitis C, not a doctor. These tips are to be used in conjunction with your own physicians advice.

Eat a very-low-protein, low-fat diet. Digesting protein puts an inordinate workload on the liver, so it is recommended by some dietary experts that you should greatly limit your intake of concentrated protein foods, such as meat, fish, and dairy products. Eat plenty of starches, vegetables, and fruits.

Drink green teas. Many available are rich in herbs that have a soothing effect. Often you can drink a cup and fill up on tea, be careful to always eat nutritiously. Don't ever skip meals if you can help it. You need to work refueling your system everyday.

Avoid all alcohol and tobacco products. Alcohol is toxic to the liver and can accelerate liver disease leading to cirrhosis, while smoking takes a major toll on the immune system.

Try to avoid all drugs, whether prescribed, over-the-counter, or illegal. Most drugs are metabolized by the liver. Even common painkillers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), when combined with alcohol, have been shown in studies to cause severe liver damage. If you're taking prescription drugs, ask your doctor whether you truly need to stay on them.

Drink plenty of water. Flushing your kidneys with lots of good-quality water (6-8 glasses a day) will allow your body's purification system to do its job and take some of the workload of detoxification off of the liver.

Take frequent steam baths or saunas. Sweating helps the body eliminate toxins and also reduces the liver's workload. Be sure to replace lost fluids by drinking plenty of pure water at the same time.

Get plenty of rest. Give your immune system an edge by cutting down on unnecessary expenditures of energy.

Exercise a couple of times a week. It is difficult to move about sometimes, especially when you are feeling fatigued but it can be very helpful to start off slowly by doing some activity every other day. A short walk can help your system work more efficiently.

Avoid exposure to chemical fumes and vapors (such as gasoline and solvents) as well as pesticides and herbicides. The liver bears most of the burden of metabolizing and detoxifying unwanted substances that enter the body. Toxins of any kind weaken immunity and make the body more susceptible to infections and disease.

Take the liver-protective herb Milk thistle. European research shows that extracts of the seeds of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) stimulate regeneration of liver cells. You'll find this product in most health-food stores. Many physicians don't tell you about the herbs that are out there because the big pharmaceutical companies don't sell them, therefore are not on the doctors list of medicines. Some doctors go so far as to say that there is no helpful herbs for treating Hepatitis C. See your doctor before taking any medicine or herb. A few have been found to be toxic in large doses.

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages

1.   Feb 18, 2000 8:34 AM
Low protein diet - usually recommended for those with cirrhosis. If a person has fibrosis, they they need some high quality protein to help the liver repair itself - so they can indulge in moderate s ...

-- posted by StCatherine





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