7 Bad Habits That Ruins Your Liver
Let's talk about the seven bad habits that can actually ruin and wreck your liver. I have a lot of experience in this because I destroyed my liver with all the bad habits you can possibly imagine. So let's go to the first bad habit: over-the-counter medication. Now, this goes beyond medication, and I'm not telling you not to take your medication, but all medication, especially over-the-counter medication, can really do some serious damage to your liver. At the top of the list, we have Tylenol.
Tylenol is very unique in that it's the number one cause of acute liver failure out of all these other medications. So it's something to be aware of, and some people don't realize that they’re taking it routinely. It's really bad. If you're on any over-the-counter medication, or even medication in general, you should be taking something to protect your liver. One thing that I recommend would be milk thistle; it has very unique properties to add protection and increase regeneration of the liver.
The other protector for the liver, especially for Tylenol, is something called NAC, but milk thistle will also work. The question to ask is: why am I on this medication in the first place? Well, some of the other bad habits that we're going to cover will probably solve the problem of being on this medication.
Number two is a sedentary lifestyle. It's kind of strange because you might wonder why not exercising or being active would harm your liver versus other things that you do. Let's say you're drinking alcohol; that's something that definitely destroys the liver. But if you're sedentary, your diet might not be that great. You could be eating a lot of junk food or more calories than you're burning off.
If we look at the cells, the input of fuel and then burning that fuel up is important. If you're inputting too much fuel and not burning it off, a lot of damage is created at the cell level. This is called oxidative stress; you can think about it as rusting out your body. Exercise burns off a lot of that fuel, serving as a buffering system for many things, like disease. Exercise greatly strengthens the immune system and increases oxygen throughout the body. It also directly reduces stress that builds up.
You can’t avoid stress, so all day long you accumulate it. How are you going to get that stress out of your body? Well, exercise can do it. Create a habit of regular exercise or physical work.
Number three is not really eating for health or nutrition. This can get you into trouble because the primary ingredient that people eat for pleasure is seed oils—vegetable oils—which are really bad. The combination of starch or sugar and seed oils is basically the anatomy of what makes up junk food. This combination is highly addictive and damaging, but it can give us a sense of decreased stress for a moment—actually about 30 seconds—until our blood sugars start coming down. Then we need more to create that same sensation.
Most people eat for some type of sensation; it’s a mindless routine habit. It took me years to decide to start eating for health. I really had to hit bottom and feel terrible for many years before I changed. I didn’t switch overnight; I had to be so sick and in so much pain before I said that’s it. Now, all I have to do is think about what I would feel like if I ate something unhealthy to make me say no, thank you.
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Comfort foods that people like are often fried chicken, deep-fried in vegetable oils, french fries with ketchup, pastries, and donuts. I can’t even imagine eating that now. Once, I ate 12 donuts in one sitting. What was I thinking? When you go to a fast food place, you literally drink sugar from corn syrup. Think about what that does to your liver.
All these carbs combined with seed oils create a situation in the liver called insulin resistance. This is where you force your body to work hard at removing this junk from the system, and it creates a protective mechanism that blocks sugar. Sugar needs insulin to enter the cells, and it all starts in the liver. It’s at the root of obesity, belly fat, fatty liver, and high blood pressure—all directly caused by insulin resistance.
Eating for pleasure, for the wrong purpose, directly destroys the liver because it creates insulin resistance. From that point on, it’s all downhill.
Number four is also eating for the wrong purpose: eating for convenience. I talk to many people who don’t have a lot of time, so they quickly eat something that usually involves low-quality food and not very good protein. For example, a protein bar doesn’t have high-quality protein, which messes with your liver because it’s filled with a solvent called hexane. Then, on top of that, there are hidden sugars, starches, and chemicals.
I was in that state for years. After a seminar where I told people to eat healthy, I drove home hungry because I hadn’t prepared. I drove past KFC and thought twice, but I pulled right in. I felt embarrassed; my face was red. I quickly got my crispy fried chicken and left, hoping I would never run into anyone I knew. I sat in my car, ate the chicken, and felt disgusted three hours later.
If I even drive past KFC now, just the smell disgusts me. What you want to do is prepare your meals. Plan what you’re going to eat and do a little preparation. My wife and I often eat at different times, so I cook my own meals. I might just combine meat, vegetables, eggs, cheese, and maybe some salad with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
All that packaged food out of convenience has a lot of seed oils, starch, and sugar. You want to avoid all that and start adding in healthier habits.
We’re at number five: stress. It not only creates problems for your sleep, which then causes blood sugars to crash, leading you to eat things you normally wouldn’t. Chronic stress brings dormant viruses out of remission that can affect the liver. Establishing new healthy habits is very important, including getting enough sleep.
Vitamin B1 before bed and vitamin D help reduce stress, as does exercise and long walks. These things all reduce stress. There’s a fantastic acupressure and stretching technique that I do every night before bed that works on the fascia. I’ll put that link down below.
I want to mention something else: many people are in a stressed state because they’re not facing the root of their stress. It’s important to ask: what’s at the root of the stress? How can I face it head-on and deal with it so it’s no longer a stress?
Number six is alcohol. When you drink alcohol, it goes right to the liver, and the liver turns it into something more poisonous. Your body has to get rid of that, which creates liver damage. There are levels of alcohol consumption that are worse than others, like mixed drinks—Margaritas and Pina Coladas—where you have alcohol combined with sugar.
Then there’s beer, which has less alcohol but more carbohydrates. Many people consume more beer in college. A friend and I used to go to the bar every day to play pool and drink. My wife and I also found a place that sold Margaritas. For a whole year, we’d stop after work and get a Margarita. I started to wonder: am I an alcoholic? I was drinking a couple of Margaritas every day.
At first, I felt great, but then I started to feel tired and had blood sugar issues. That’s when I said, “That’s it, I’m done.” Wine has phytonutrients that can lessen the damage of alcohol, but it depends on how much you consume. If you’re drinking for health reasons, just realize there’s no such thing as a health benefit to regular consumption.
You might want to lessen that routine to be more in control of your drinking. You can also take natural vitamin B1, which helps prevent hangovers.
Number seven is vitamin deficiencies. It’s important to get the key nutrients to help support the liver and help it function. We’re talking about phytonutrients. Certain foods provide more phytonutrients than others, like cruciferous vegetables—arugula, broccoli—all filled with phytonutrients that help the liver detoxify.
You should consume these on a regular basis. Other good foods for the liver include salads with added garlic and onion, as they provide antioxidants to protect the liver from inflammation. Don’t forget red meat or hamburger from grass-fed cows, or wild-caught fish; these are super healthy for your liver.
Now that you know about these habits, it would be really helpful for you to get the basics on exactly what diet you should consume. For that information, I’ve put it up right here. Check it out.