Why it's time to show your liver some love
If I asked you how big your liver is, and where it is in your body, would you be able to tell me? (I mean, without referring to the picture of me above, holding a life-size liver in the right place?) I certainly would have guessed smaller, and lower down, but your liver is your largest internal organ - about the size of a chihuahua.
Its many functions include processing everything you eat and drink, metabolising hormones, producing immune cells, regulating blood sugar levels and carrying out around 500(!) vital biological processes. A healthy liver helps with everything from mood and mental clarity to healthy skin and sleep.
But when was the last time you actually gave your liver a moment’s thought?
Dr Federica Amati is a medical scientist and nutritionist. ‘I teach nutrition to medical students, so I’m always talking about the liver,’ she laughs.
Most of us know that our liver processes alcohol, but it’s about so much more than that. ‘The liver takes anything we consume - whether it's proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, or toxins like alcohol - and packages it up in a way that the body can either excrete it effectively or absorb it effectively.’
This is true of everything except fibre, which rather than being digested by the body, goes to feed our gut microbes. ‘They do their magic, but it's the liver that does the heavy lifting,’ she explains. All of this is particularly important after menopause, so it’s good to know that Dr Amati has written a book on exactly that, out in October.
And that’s not all. If we don’t eat enough of something - the liver can actually make it for us from scratch. ‘Our liver can make new glucose, it can make amino acids, it can literally make fat,’ grins Dr Amati, with that nerdy enthusiasm of a scientist when something is just unequivocally cool. ‘A really nice example of this is creatine. Vegans are not eating any creatine in their diet, and the liver can make it for them. That's amazing. It's so clever.’
But that’s not to say you can eat (or drink) any old shit and your liver will be fine. We do have to take care of it. Now, I know that high cholesterol can accelerate fatty liver disease, but I love fatty foods. I eat cheese most days, and yoghurt for breakfast every morning. I also love eggs. Should I be worried about my cholesterol?
‘It’s about the quality and the quantity,’ she explains. ‘If it's natural yoghurt, then a little bit every day is really good for us. And, unless you’re having cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it’s fine. Cheddar is great - organic is better, and never the low-fat version. It’s just anything in excess that becomes a problem.’
So remember ‘the two Qs’: quantity and quality. When it comes to fats and cholesterol, it’s not rocket science to know that the fat in fish, nuts and avocados is better for you than the fat in bacon or Pringles.
But this science is all fairly new. Dr Amati tells me about research that came out just last month on the different types of cholesterol and their effects on the liver. And any doctor will tell you that they had zero nutrition education at medical school.
‘I teach at Imperial College, which is probably the best medical school in the country, although I'm sure Kings and UCL would argue that,’ says Dr Amati. ‘But we only started teaching nutrition to medical students in 2019. So there are no consultants out there who have nutrition education unless they have pursued it outside of their medical degree.’
This is mind-blowing to me. And it rather explains why there is so much misinformation out there - there’s a hunger for knowledge, and so few people who are qualified to provide this kind of advice.
Which brings me to the word ‘detox’. Instagram is awash with people recommending juice cleanses or supplements to detox your body, and just as many wellness debunkers saying that detoxing is bollocks. The truth - predictably - is somewhere in the middle.
‘It’s not bollocks; your liver does it,’ says Dr Amati. The good news is you don’t have to do a cleanse or check into some detox clinic for an array of extreme enemas and therapies, like in The Big Celebrity Detox (yes, that’s a real TV show). But there are ways in which you can support your liver to work optimally.
Dr Amati recommends an elixir brilliantly named de-liver-ance because it delivers a high dose of polyphenols, reducing oxidative stress in the mitochondria and helping the liver function better. If you drink alcohol, taking a shot of de-liver-ance will reduce the impact on your liver.
To be clear: I’m not recommending you go out and get absolutely spangled, then a supplement will negate all the damage. Obviously, my recommendation is to drink less, if any, alcohol. But I’m also a realist and, if you do drink, this will help.
Other ways to support your liver for free:
Give it a break from endlessly processing food by cutting out snacking.
Reduce ultra-processed foods - focus on proper food, mostly plants.
Don’t smoke - it’s a known risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Drink less alcohol. If you need help, I can recommend a great book.
Exercise can improve the composition of bacteria in your body, decrease inflammation and reduce fatty deposits in your liver.
This week I’m…
Still buzzing from having been to see Beyoncé
Pretending to be doing my son a favour by taking him to see Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse again, when actually I want to see it
Wondering if there’s a word for being addicted to reading books about ultra-processed food? This week’s favourite is Metabolical by Dr Robert Lustig
I’ll stop banging on about ultra-processed food soon, but did you see Panorama??