An overloaded liver: the signs that are easy to miss

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
The body does give signals, we simply do not connect them with the liver: constant tiredness and falling stamina; heaviness under the ribs on the right after fatty food; a bitter taste in the mouth in the morning; dull skin and blemishes; irritability for no reason. Each sign on its own can be explained by anything at all — but their combination is worth taking seriously.

The liver's main enemies

I link liver disease above all to diet and way of life. Among the causes I name overeating and an excess of meat. Among the harmful factors I count pasteurised cow's milk; when the liver is weak I advise limiting other dairy products too. Alcohol and chemical medicines taken without measure make the harm worse. Wrong food combinations create an additional risk — badly digested food loads the liver with work that need never have existed.

Where to begin the support

Not with a "cleanse off the internet", but with unloading: take out sugar, white flour and processed foods; keep proteins and carbohydrates apart; do not overeat — the liver suffers more from excess than from "the wrong thing". Add warmth: in the evening a warm hot-water bottle over the liver for 20–30 minutes acts like a gentle massage and improves blood flow.

A full cleansing of the liver is a serious procedure with preparation and contraindications; I describe it step by step in my books. That is not where to begin — begin by ceasing to overload the liver.

The liver and the emotions

There is a connection that is rarely spoken of: an overloaded liver spoils the character. It is not for nothing that bile entered the language — we speak of a "bilious person". When the liver cannot keep up with cleaning the blood, the head suffers too: irritability, gloom, fog in the thoughts. My patients have often been surprised that after unloading the liver the first thing to change is the mood, and only then the digestion.

Enzymes — living food for the liver

I call enzymes living food substances: they are found in raw vegetables, fruit, greens and freshly pressed juices — and they are destroyed by cooking. The more living food in the diet, the fewer of its own resources the liver spends on processing. Start with something simple: a fresh salad before every cooked dish, and a glass of carrot, beetroot and cucumber juice (300/90/90 ml) between meals.

Warmth — the liver's favourite medicine

The liver is the warmest organ in the body, and it answers warmth with gratitude: the vessels widen, the bile becomes fluid, the stagnation goes. An evening hot-water bottle over the right side under the ribs, 20–30 minutes under a blanket, two or three times a week — a simple procedure that is underestimated. With gallstones — only after agreeing it with your doctor.

A word of caution

With gallstones, hepatitis and other diagnosed liver diseases, any procedure is to be done only in agreement with your doctor.