This is how overeating leads to liver damage!

Not just obesity and diabetes, overeating makes your liver go weak and aggravates other health conditions.

Debjani Arora | Published: June 3, 2016 6:50 pm

If you are a self-acclaimed foodie who loves to gorge on food and often tends to overeat and stuff yourself with all the happiness that Mexican, Italian and every cuisine gives you, then mind you, it’s not just obesity and diabetes that you should worry about. In fact, you should also worry about the damages that is happening to your major organs. Yes, all that food you gorge on takes a toll on your heart, kidneys, lungs and most importantly, your liver. ‘Especially, if you suffer from conditions like diabetes or have liver problems, overeating and high-fat foods just accelerate the destruction of the organ,’ informs Dr Jay Kotecha, consultant gastroenterologist, SVR Hospital, Mumbai.

Wondering why liver is so important and crucial. Well, there are a lot of functions that it performs to keep you healthy, says Dr Kotecha, like,

It helps in digestion of fat and fat-soluble vitamins through bile that is secreted by the liver.
It helps in carbohydrate metabolism and maintaining blood glucose level.
It helps in protein synthesis. Proteins are the building blocks of your body, and it’s your liver that helps in making this essential component.
It helps in the process of natural detoxification. The liver sends the toxics to the kidneys for excretion.
Your liver also stores vitamins like A, B12, D, E and K along with other minerals too.

This gives you a fair idea why saving your liver is necessary to have a healthy life.

How overeating affects the liver

Overeating or having too much fatty food on your plate can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD where the fat deposits in the vessels of the liver making it difficult to function smoothly, and this leads to a toxic build-up in the body. While obesity can make one prone to NAFLD, it could on the other hand attribute to abdominal fat too.

Also, if your food is rich in animal fat, it thickens the arteries of the liver and leads to the formation of gallstones. This also suppresses the formation of bile and hampers the process of fat digestion and promotes weight gain.

What you can do

‘Eat all your favourite foods, but in moderation. Keep in mind to choose foods that are low in fat content like lean meat, skim milk products, etc. Foods rich in unsaturated fats help your liver to cope better in the process to breakdown foods. Unlike high-fat foods that take a toll on your liver,’ says Dr Kotecha. Another thing that you can do to protect your liver is that space out your meals properly. Instead of going overboard with food at one time, eat small meals throughout the day. This gives your liver enough time to recuperate between its job and function to the optimum,’ says Kotecha.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: June 3, 2016 6:50 pm

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