Diet for a sick liver

Toxic Hepatitis Nutrition. Pathology is caused by prolonged intake of alcohol, the negative impact of certain drugs, poisoning with toxic substances, surrogates.

The main objective of the diet is the removal of toxic products and the resulting toxins from the body with bile through the intestines. Diet No. 5a is applied, abundant drinking, vitamin-containing juices, choleretic products of a nature containing a lot of fiber.

After stabilization, the patient will have to eat on diet No. 5 for at least a year.

Of the many products you can choose the necessary for the restoration of the liver. For some people, restrictions are difficult. Dietary treatment will require patience from the patient and his family. But the result of almost 100 years of use proves the correctness of the recommendations.

In addition to strict restrictions on certain types of products, taking into account the useful and harmful properties of dishes, the diet requires the following rules:

• food should be carried out at least five times a day;
• single servings should not exceed 200 g, overeating is unacceptable and causes significant overload, complicates the course of diseases;
• fried, smoked, canned food is excluded, cooking is allowed by cooking, steaming, stewing, a sick liver reacts hard to irritation, spasm of the bile ducts causes pain;
• for the purpose of mechanical sparing of the digestion process, all dishes must be crushed in a blender, scrolled in a meat grinder or mashed, thus, it is possible to reduce the total burden on digestion, reduce the reflex production of juices;
• finished products are suitable for patient nutrition, if they correspond to a temperature regime of 15 to 50 degrees, the liver does not tolerate deviations and contrasts.

Steatosis or fatty degeneration requires a sharp restriction of fats coming with food

What is the most appropriate diet for a diseased liver?

For various pathologies of the internal organs, dietary rules have been developed that are classified by M.I. Pevzner called “tables.” The proposed diet for liver problems is called table number 5. It is prescribed for inflammatory diseases, poisoning and intoxication, concomitant pathology of the biliary system, cirrhosis.

The goals of good nutrition for liver diseases are:

• supporting the necessary level of metabolic processes in hepatocytes;
• restoration of the ability to process toxic substances;
• preventing the spread of cirrhotic changes and replacing the parenchyma with unhealthy tissue;
• normalization of the function of bile formation, the promotion of bile ducts.

What foods should be excluded from the diet?

Patients with liver pathology should not eat meals containing an increased amount of animal fats, light carbohydrates, which have a sokogonny and irritating effect.

Table 5 highlights the following harmful products for the liver, which are recommended to be discarded:

• wheat bread, butter, pastries, culinary products with cream, from puff pastry;
• rich soups of meat, fish, cabbage, mushrooms;
• fatty meat, fish, duck in the second courses;
• fat, cooking oil;
• “Coarse” cereals (pearl barley, millet, porridge from a box, corn flakes);
• legumes (peas, beans, lentils);
• high-fat dairy products (whole milk, cream, sour cream, kefir, cottage cheese, cream cheese);
• vegetables with sokogonny stimulating effect (radish, white cabbage, turnip, radish);
• greens with a high concentration of oxalic acid (spinach, garlic, onions, parsley, sorrel);
• chocolate and sweets;
• sour berries and fruits;
• spicy seasonings (pepper, horseradish, mustard), ketchups, sauces, mayonnaise;
• carbonated drinks, strong tea, cocoa, coffee;
• alcohol in any form (drinks, tinctures);
• ice cream.

What can I eat?

Doctors believe that a diet to restore the liver cannot be hypocaloric. If the main organ that produces energy for the body suffers, then healing substances of food that compensate for the loss are needed to support it. The calorie content of the menu for every day is 2800-3000 kcal.

The following products are allowed:

• rye or rye-wheat bread, dried, in the form of crackers;
• lean meats and fish, chicken, turkey, squid, shrimp, veal, rabbit;
• skim dairy products (milk, cottage cheese, kefir, hard cheese);
• from cereals – buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, semolina;
• a wide variety of vegetables – potatoes, beets, carrots, sweet peppers, onions (preferably blue), cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkin;
• berries and fruits of sweet varieties;
• eggs are limited, only proteins in an omelet, boiled yolk can be rubbed into porridge once a week (dietary opinions differ, some believe that you can eat up to three eggs a week, and limit yolks only in cases of combination of liver damage with cholelithiasis);
• pasta from premium flour;
• drinks from berries and fruits, fresh or dried fruits in compote, decoctions, jelly, non-preserved juices, a decoction of rose hips is very recommended, tea is only weak;
• nuts (preferably walnuts, peanut are excluded), pumpkin seeds;
• butter is combined with vegetable oil, it is advisable to add directly to the plate;
• limited allowed honey, marmalade, marshmallows, jam, dry cookies or biscuit (often sugar is replaced by xylitol).

Justification of the beneficial properties of products included in the therapeutic diet for the liver

Food ingredients that improve liver function, the diet provides certain foods. Since their choice is important for the formation of the patient’s diet, we will dwell separately on the explanation of the feasibility of use. The main source of protein is meat and fish, dairy products, eggs are limited

Only low-fat varieties will be required in the diet, since animal fat contains a high concentration of cholesterol and exacerbates fatty degeneration of liver cells. Legumes are known for their protein properties, but they are difficult to tolerate by the digestive system, cause bloating and increased fermentation in the intestines, therefore, are not recommended.

To normalize fat metabolism in the diet, lipotropic substances are needed that restore the active processing of liver lipids into energy, stimulate the excretion of fatty acids with bile into the intestines to combat fatty infiltration.

Cottage cheese, seafood, fish, eggs, low-fat beef meat, soy flour have the maximum lipotropic effect. Plant fiber is a moderate lipotropic property. It also improves the functioning of the intestine, which means it promotes the accelerated elimination of cholesterol.

Fiber – is found in all vegetables and fruits (the concentration in dried fruits is maximum), in the fresh juices of their apples, pumpkins, beets, avocados. Wheat bran is added to the diet. The therapeutic value of beets for the liver lies in the increased content of pectins and betaine.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids enhance the lipotropic effect. Of these, the most famous are: omega-3, omega-6, arachidonic, linolenic. They are found in sufficient quantities in vegetable oils (linseed, corn, olive, sunflower, and milk thistle). Therefore, the diet requires their use instead of animal fats.

In walnuts, the concentration of the amino acid arginine is quite high, which is necessary to help the liver to neutralize toxins.

There are a lot of carbohydrates in the diet (up to 450 g per day), only the lungs are limited to 100 g. They provide a high calorie diet, maintain a supply of glycogen in the liver parenchyma against the background of fat restriction. Patients receive a sufficient amount with cereals, sugar, bread, sweet fruits and berries, potatoes, carrots, honey, nuts.

The antioxidant effect of fruits and berries prevents the oxidation and destruction of the hepatocyte membrane. The most powerful are: blackcurrant, citrus, bell pepper, rosehips.

What foods make up the vitamin composition?

Diet for liver disease must necessarily contain the most necessary vitamins. Vitamin A – is found in all vegetables and fruits of red-orange color (carrots, bell peppers, beets, apples). Vitamin A is synthesized from the initial beta-carotene, which, together with vitamin E, neutralizes the accumulated free radicals.

Vitamin C – found in rose hips, sea buckthorn berries, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, dill, oranges, strawberries, lemons, kiwi. Vitamin E – is a part of vegetable oils, cereals, fish, nuts, fruits of aronia, sea buckthorn and blackberry berries, pumpkin juice and seeds.

Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, in addition to vitamins, include the chemical element sulfur, vitamin K. With their help, the processing of toxins improves, and the synthesis of prothrombin and fibrinogen in the liver, necessary for blood coagulation, is established. Seaweed and other seafood are enriched with alginic acid salts and iodine.

They are known for their ability to bind heavy metal molecules and remove them from the body in toxic hepatitis, poisoning.

Dried apricots – characterized by a high concentration of potassium and magnesium salts, prevents malignant degeneration of liver cells

When is table 5a assigned?

The most sparing diet for the liver is prescribed during the active phase of hepatitis, with a combination of liver pathology with cholecystitis, gastritis, colitis, pancreatitis. It requires compliance with all recommendations and restrictions in accordance with table No. 5, but differs in a strict approach to the degree of food chopping: minced meat must be twisted twice, the mass of cottage cheese is ground.

All dishes are cooked in boiled semi-liquid form, even stewing and stewing vegetables is excluded. Soups are prepared mainly vegetarian, in the form of mashed soups, seasoned with cereals, butter or milk. The recommended amount of salt is reduced.

Porridge is cooked in water, frayed, served with liquid. You can cook small vermicelli, steamed omelet from protein. Fruits and vegetables are given pre-boiled and mashed. It is allowed to drink a rosehip broth, tea with lemon, mineral water without gas. Meat broths are temporarily excluded.

Thin fine vermicelli is well-digested, combined with vegetables, fruits

Features of nutrition for various liver diseases

With liver pathology, doctors adhere to the nutritional scheme: in the acute phase – table No. 5a, with normalization of blood biochemistry – transfer to No. 5. However, different diseases require an individual approach and taking into account the tolerance of products.

Nutrition after an attack of hepatic colic

A pain attack is a sign of cholelithiasis. It occurs against the background of the movement of stones in the gall bladder or duct, after eating fried and fatty meat food, alcohol, general overeating. Any stress, physical activity, shaking in public transport can have a provocative effect.

To stop the pain, medications are administered, an emergency operation may be necessary. Regardless of the treatment methods, the patient must completely exclude from the food products that promote bile secretion from the liver (raw eggs, vegetable oil, spicy spices), stop eating fried and fatty foods, drink alcohol, do not use pickles, marinades, spicy sauces, ketchup.

Go to:

• on semi-liquid cereals;
• kefir, low-fat cottage cheese without sour cream;
• vegetables and fruits to increase the proportion of fiber, you can add bran to porridge;
• in order to dilute bile and prevent stone growth in conditions of stagnation, you need to drink daily 1.5–2 liters of water.

How long you have to stick to a diet will show a full examination.

After surgery on the liver

Surgery on the liver is performed for injuries, abscesses, and tumors. The first day shows hunger. From the second day, fractional meals are allowed in portions of 150 g 8 times a day with oat jelly, low-fat kefir. A rosehip broth is suitable for drinking, water acidified with lemon juice (relieves intoxication, helps to eliminate bile).

On the third day they allow you to eat mashed vegetable soup, liquid mashed potatoes, juices diluted with water (pumpkin or apple), sweetened with weak tea. After 7 days, twisted boiled meat or fish, mashed liquid cereals, cottage cheese, vegetable puree are allowed, drink kefir, yogurt, tea. In fact, the patient is transferred to diet No. 5A.

The duration of applying strict restrictions must be observed 2 months after the operation, then adhere to table No. 5 for life. If the postoperative period is complicated by signs of stagnation of bile, sugar and sweets are limited, vegetables, fruits in the form of juices, jelly, vegetable oils are added.

When buying cottage cheese, you need to pay attention to the production time, no more than 2-3 days will be suitable for the liver

Nutrition in different stages of cirrhosis

If cirrhosis has a slightly asymptomatic non-progressive course, then the patient is recommended to eat in accordance with the rules of table No. 5. When joining dyspeptic symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), the patient tightens his diet to table No. 5A.

Frequent diarrhea, steatorrhea (increased excretion of fat with feces due to a violation of its absorption) require a reduction in the amount of animal and vegetable fats to 50 g per day, the exclusion of dairy products and all vegetables, fruits with a laxative effect (beets, dried apricots, prunes).

When cirrhosis is accompanied by ascites, a salt-free diet is used (salt no more than 0.5 g per day, everything is prepared without salt). Sometimes the patient is transferred for 10 days to table No. 7 (salt-free). Calorie content is reduced to 2000 kcal. Protein should be 70 g. The amount of fluid consumed is limited depending on the amount of diuresis (the amount of urine excreted per day).