Vitamins for Healthy Liver

The liver is the central processing center for vitamins and minerals in the body. It helps you absorb the nutrients in food and it aids in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The liver is helped more by what you avoid than by what you take in, but there are several vitamins and minerals that can contribute to liver health.

A healthy liver is essential for the body to function properly. The liver is the filtration system of the body and is partially responsible for the distribution of minerals and vitamins throughout the rest of the body. If the liver is not healthy, or is otherwise not functioning properly, a person may have issues with the absorption of vitamins and minerals. Overall, what you avoid taking into your body affects the liver the most, but there are vitamins that will help it function at an optimum level.


Vitamins and Minerals to Use

Vitamin A is linked to the prevention of your liver accumulating tough, fibrous tissue that is characteristic of a disease. A diet rich in vitamin A can help to reduce damage in a diseased liver. If you take in too much of the vitamin, however, it may cause disease and liver enlargement. A University of Turin study showed that vitamin E may prevent against cirrhosis and liver damage. The vitamin may provide protection by reducing the spreading of lipid oxidation processes and limiting the damage that the oxidation causes. Beta carotene's contributions are twofold, healing a deficiency that may occur in liver damage and attacking free radicals that may cause liver damage in the first place. The liver uses low-density lipoproteins to remove fat fragments, but it cannot send out these fragments when there is a deficiency of choline. Lecithin supplementation, which raises blood choline levels, can take care of this problem. There is also speculation that B-vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin D can help the liver when given in normal doses.


Vitamins and Minerals to Limit

Since the liver processes all nutrients in the body, an abundance of any vitamin over the recommended amount has the potential of causing problems. Vitamin K in large doses may produce jaundice, a disease related to the liver. Sustained released vitamins that contain niacin have been said to be hepatoxic by researchers at VCU. Biotin may cause enlargement of the liver when taken in large amounts over long periods of time. Also, there are many herbs that can cause problems in the liver. If you have liver problems or are considering taking the following herbs, consult your doctor before using: black cohosh, chaparral, ma-huang, comfrey, greater celadine, germander, kava, pennyroyal, mistletoe, valerian and skullcap.


Other Liver Tips

Avoid using alcohol to excess as it makes your liver overwork and can lead to great damage. Don't combine medications with alcohol of any kind. Try to stay away from environmental pollutants like aerosol sprays, paint thinner and bug sprays. Also, eat a healthy and balanced diet to ensure that your liver is not receiving too much or too little of anything at all.

Vitamin A

When taken in the recommended daily amounts, vitamin A helps stop the tissue of the liver from developing a rough fiber-like texture. A liver which has this texture is often unhealthy and is characteristically a sign of disease.

Foods rich in vitamin A include liver, eggs, butter, milk, cheese and other dairy products. In addition, many vegetables contain high levels of vitamin A.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E consumption has been found to lower the possibility of a person developing liver damage and cirrhosis of the liver. Vitamin E does this by slowing down the oxidation of lipids in the body. Beta caratine has been found to attack the free radicals in the body that can produce liver damage. Beta caratine also helps the body produce the necessary amounts of choline to aid in the removal of fragments of fat.

Avoiding Alcohol and Other Pollutants

Do not use alcohol in excess as it can lead to the development of liver disease as well as cirrhosis of the liver. Taking medications in combination with alcohol will cause damage to the liver and doing so should be avoided. Whenever possible, stay away from man-made and chemical pollutants as they contain free radicals which can damage your liver as well as other organs in he body.

Vitamins To Limit

There are vitamins which, if consumed in excess, have the potential to cause to damage to the liver. For instance, if vitamin K is consumed in excessive amounts it may cause jaundice, which is a disease that occurs in part from having an unhealthy liver. Some researchers also report that vitamins which contain high levels of niacin can be toxic to the liver as well.

Considerations

Maintaining a healthy liver means maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, a balanced diet, and other health conscious decisions will leave you with a happy and healthy liver. Avoid consuming any vitamin in excess and make sure to limit consumption of other things that are known to be harmful to your health. Before making any major changes to your diet, consider consulting a medical professional such as a nutritionist.