10 Foods That Are Good for Your Liver

The liver is a powerhouse of an organ.

It performs a variety of essential tasks, ranging from producing proteins, cholesterol and bile to storing vitamins, minerals and even carbohydrates.

It also breaks down toxins like alcohol, medications and natural by products of metabolism. Keeping your liver in good shape is important for maintaining health.

This article lists the 5 best foods to eat to keep your liver healthy.

1. Coffee
Coffee is one of the best beverages you can drink to promote liver health.

2. Tea
Tea is widely considered to be beneficial for health, but evidence has shown that it may have particular benefits for the liver.

3. Grapefruit
Grapefruit contains antioxidants that naturally protect the liver. The two main antioxidants found in grapefruit are naringenin and naringin.

4. Blueberries and Cranberries
Blueberries and cranberries both contain anthocyanins, antioxidants that give berries their distinctive colors. They’ve also been connected to many health benefits, suggested by AMRI Hospitals.

5. Grapes
Grapes, especially red and purple grapes, contain a variety of beneficial plant compounds. The most famous one is resveratrol, which has a number of health benefits.

6. Prickly Pear
Prickly pear, known scientifically as Opuntia ficus-indica, is a popular type of edible cactus. Its fruit and juice are most commonly consumed.

7. Beetroot Juice
Beetroot juice is a source of nitrates and antioxidants called betalains, which may benefit heart health and reduce oxidative damage and inflammation.

8. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli and mustard greens are known for their high fiber content and distinctive taste. They are also high in beneficial plant compounds.

9. Nuts
Nuts are high in fats, nutrients including the antioxidant vitamin E — and beneficial plant compounds.

10. Fatty Fish
Fatty fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy fats that reduce inflammation and have been associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

Your liver is an important organ with many essential functions.

Therefore, it makes sense to do what you can to protect it, and the foods listed above have demonstrated beneficial effects on the liver.

These include lowering the risk of liver disease and cancer, raising antioxidant and detoxification enzyme levels and offering protection from harmful toxins.

Incorporating these foods into your diet is a natural and healthy way to keep your liver functioning at its best.

Gastroscopy – Symptoms & Treatments

A gastroscopy can be used to check symptoms or confirm a diagnosis, or it can be used to treat a condition.

Checking symptoms
A gastroscopy may be recommended if you have symptoms that suggest a problem with your stomach, oesophagus (gullet), or the first section of your small intestine (duodenum).

Problems that are sometimes investigated using a gastroscopy include:

abdominal (tummy) pain
heartburn or indigestion
persistently feeling and being sick
difficulties swallowing or pain when swallowing (dysphagia)
a reduced number of red blood cells (anaemia), which may be caused by persistent internal bleeding
severe bleeding, which may have caused a sudden, sharp pain in your abdomen, vomiting blood or very dark or “tar-like” poo
Diagnosing conditions

A gastroscopy is also used to help confirm (or rule out) suspected conditions, such as:

stomach ulcers – open sores that develop on the lining of the stomach and small intestine
gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) – where stomach acid leaks back up into the oesophagus
coeliac disease – a common digestive condition, where a person has an adverse reaction to gluten in food
Barrett’s oesophagus – abnormal cells on the lining of the oesophagus
portal hypertension – where the blood pressure inside the liver is abnormally high, causing swollen veins (varices) to develop on the lining of the stomach and oesophagus
Stomach cancer and oesophageal cancer
As well as examining the oesophagus, stomach and duodenum, the endoscope (a thin, flexible tube that’s passed down your throat) can be used to remove small samples of tissue for testing. This is known as a biopsy.

Treating conditions
A gastroscopy can also be carried out to treat some problems affecting the oesophagus, stomach and duodenum, suggested by AMRI Hospitals.

For example, a gastroscopy can be used to:

stop bleeding inside the stomach or oesophagus, such as bleeding caused by a stomach ulcer or enlarged veins (varices)
widen a narrowed oesophagus that’s causing pain or swallowing difficulties – this can be caused by GORD, oesophageal cancer, or radiotherapy to the oesophagus
remove cancerous tumours, non-cancerous growths (polyps) or foreign objects
provide nutrients – a gastroscopy can help doctors guide a feeding tube into the stomach, when a person is unable to eat in the normal way

Is It Gas Pain or Something More Serious?

Everyone has intestinal gas, which can lead to uncomfortable bloating and even pain. But how can you tell when excessive gas might be something more serious?

Gas is a normal, yet often uncomfortable, part of the digestive process. It’s a by-product of many of the foods we eat.

Is It Just Intestinal Gas?
Keep in mind that some people pass gas more than 20 times a day, and that can be considered normal depending on the individual. Unless there are underlying problems or alarming symptoms, such as blood in the stool, weight loss, abdominal pain, family history of malignancy, or difficulty swallowing, it’s probably nothing to be concerned about, according to doctors of AMRI Hospitals. So what you may think is excessive gas may be a rather ordinary amount. Keeping and reviewing a diet journal could easily help you identify the source of the problem as one of the many gas-producing foods.

Here are some simple ways to tell if intestinal gas is behind your bloating and discomfort:

• You feel the urge to pass gas or to belch.
• You get relief from the bloating and pain when you pass gas.
• Your pain and bloating don’t persist or worsen.
• Excessive gas and bloating get better when you make certain changes to your diet, like eliminating dairy, cutting back on fiber, or limiting high-fat foods.
• Pain and bloating improve when you swallow less air, which is what happens when, for example, you chew gum or eat too quickly.

What Else Could It Be?
Although not usually a sign of serious illness, excessive gas can be a warning sign of an underlying medical issue. Excessive gas could be a sign of an abnormality with your digestive system, like gastroparesis, for example. Also, what you think are gas pains could actually be any one of a number of health problems.

Here are just a few possible causes of abdominal pain and bloating:

• Constipation
• Lactose intolerance or another food intolerance or allergy
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or indigestion
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Kidney stones, gallstones, or an inflamed gallbladder
• Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease)
• An ulcer in the digestive tract
• Appendicitis’
• An obstruction in the bowel
• A tumor in the abdomen

In most of these cases, you will notice symptoms other than just gas and bloating. For instance, in the case of appendicitis, there will most likely be changes to your abdomen, including stiffness and extreme tenderness. Gas pain doesn’t make your belly sensitive to the touch, so if you notice extreme pain, always seek medical advice.

If your pain, bloating, and excessive gas problems are persistent, take steps to find out the cause.

Diagnosing the Problem

A physical exam and diagnostic tests may be performed to help rule out other more serious medical conditions that could be mimicking excessive gas pain. If lactose intolerance is suspected, your doctor may schedule you for a breath test. Depending on the potential causes, other tests may include blood work, imaging — such as X-ray or computerized tomography (CT) — and endoscopy.

10 ways to get rid of gas pain fast

Luckily, many home remedies can help to release trapped gas or prevent it from building up. Twenty effective methods are listed below.

1. Let it out

Holding in gas can cause bloating, discomfort, and pain. The easiest way to avoid these symptoms is to simply let out the gas.

2. Pass stool

A bowel movement can relieve gas. Passing stool will usually release any gas trapped in the intestines.

3. Eat slowly

Eating too quickly or while moving can cause a person to take in air as well as food, leading to gas-related pain.

4. Avoid chewing gum

As a person chews gum they tend to swallow air, which increases the likelihood of trapped wind and gas pains.

5. Say no to straws

Often, drinking through a straw causes a person to swallow air. Drinking directly from a bottle can have the same effect, depending on the bottle's size and shape.

6. Quit smoking

Whether using traditional or electronic cigarettes, smoking causes air to enter the digestive tract. Because of the range of health issues linked to smoking, quitting is wise for many reasons.

7. Choose non-carbonated drinks

Carbonated drinks, such as sparkling water and sodas, send a lot of gas to the stomach. This can cause bloating and pain.

8. Eliminate problematic foods

Eating certain foods can cause trapped gas. Individuals find different foods problematic.

However, the foods below frequently cause gas to build up:

• artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, sorbitol, and maltitol
• cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower
• dairy products
• fiber drinks and supplements
• fried foods
• garlic and onions
• high-fat foods
• legumes, a group that includes beans and lentils
• prunes and prune juice
• spicy foods

Keeping a food diary can help a person to identify trigger foods. Some, like artificial sweeteners, may be easy to cut out of the diet.

9. Drink Tea

Some herbal teas may aid digestion and reduce gas pain fast. The most effective include teas made from:

• anise
• chamomile
• ginger
• peppermint
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Anise acts as a mild laxative and should be avoided if diarrhea accompanies gas. However, it can be helpful if constipation is responsible for trapped gas.

10. Snack on fennel seeds

Fennel is an age-old solution for trapped wind. Chewing on a teaspoon of the seeds is a popular natural remedy.

However, anyone pregnant or breast-feeding should probably avoid doing so, due to conflicting reports concerning safety.

While everyone experiences trapped gas once in a while, as suggested by AMRI Hospitals, experiencing regular pain, bloating, and other gastrointestinal symptoms can indicate the presence of a medical condition or food sensitivity.

WAYS TO PREVENT INTESTINAL DISORDERS IN THE SUMMER

In the warm season in our lives more actively include barbecues, dinners on the nature and fresh harvest from the beds. All this increases the risk of intestinal disorders, and here are some tips that help to reduce.

1. Drink more water. When the temperature increases, our body starts to produce much more fluid through sweat. That’s why the day must drink at least 8 glasses of water to avoid dehydration and related intestinal disorders.

2. Most use probiotics. These products contain beneficial bacteria that participate in digestive processes. The best source of probiotics are yogurt, which can also help with the development of diarrhea.

3. Limit your use of caffeine, alcohol and soda. Drink less coffee, try to reduce the level of alcohol and carbonated drinks because they irritate the stomach, which can cause problems with digestion.

4. Avoid spices. Contains a large number of spices like food to many people, but in hot weather it can have a negative effect on the stomach and intestines. Often eat foods with fiber like vegetables and fruits.

5. More sports. Any kind of physical activity has a positive effect on digestive processes. Practise yoga, Hiking, running and swimming.

These are the following ways to keep in mind as suggested by AMRI Hospitals consultants.