11 Foods Damaging Your Liver and Causing Belly Fat
Did you know that some of the foods that you eat to satisfy your cravings can quietly harm your body, especially your liver and your waistline? The liver works tirelessly to help clean out harmful stuff, process fats, and make sure the body runs smoothly- free of toxins.
When it’s not at its best due to overload, it can lead to health problems, like unwanted belly fat that won’t budge and fatigue. Let’s discover the 11 foods and the surprising ways they can affect your liver and cause extra belly bulge.
1. Alcohol
Alcohol-related liver disease happens when you drink too much alcohol over many years. It is best to avoid alcohol altogether, but if you can’t help it, then it’s best to have it in moderation. The guidelines say that moderate drinking is having a maximum of one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Drinking too much can lead to inflammation in the liver and can cause an incurable disease called cirrhosis.
2. Sugary Drinks
Some people love to have soda with every snack, but as our taste buds love it, it’s terrible for the liver. These soda drinks are a double whammy because of the added sugar and refined carbohydrates (often called empty calories), making it hard for the liver to process the fat that is storing all that extra sugar. Over time, it can lead to fatty liver disease. Sounds scary? Well, it’s recommended that no more than 10% of your daily calories should come from added sugar. Therefore, you must be mindful of using added sugar in your diet. Consider cutting it out.
3. Processed Meats
Your all-time favorites, salami and hot dogs, are usually packed with unhealthy saturated fat, nitrites, and other preservatives that can damage our liver when eaten for a long time. Studies even hint that red and processed meat could raise your chances of getting a nonalcoholic fatty liver.
So, when you want processed meats, it’s better to enjoy them in small portions and opt for lean or very lean meats whenever possible.
4. White Bread
Do you find white bread delicious? Unfortunately, white bread lacks minerals, fiber, and essential vitamins and is made from refined grains. When you eat white bread, your body quickly turns these refined grains into sugar, causing rapid blood sugar spikes. Any excess sugar in the blood is turned into fat cells. The liver is one of the places in our bodies that stores excess fat. With time, liver cells will gradually be replaced by fat cells. When we eat sugar, our bodies also release inflammatory chemicals.
Instead of eating white bread, choose whole grains, like brown rice and quinoa, which is healthier for your liver and overall well-being.
5. Fast Food
Food like French fries, chips, burgers, and pizzas are undoubtedly the yummiest “snacks” you can have at any time, but unfortunately, they are also not liver-friendly as they are difficult to digest. The unhealthy fats hidden in these treats can cause inflammation in the liver and, even worse, cirrhosis. Not just that, they can also raise bad cholesterol, lower good cholesterol, and put you at risk of heart disease and strokes.
But you don’t have to say goodbye to your favorite foods entirely. You can enjoy healthier options like air-frying them instead of deep-frying to remove the unnecessary saturated fats.
6. Excessive Salt
Keep your salt intake as low as possible to keep your liver healthy. The liver is the gatekeeper for many hormones that help regulate sodium (salt) and potassium in the kidneys. Too much salt makes your body retain extra water, which results in bloating and water weight gain. There are some items like canned soups, packaged savory snacks like chips, mixed snacks, salty biscuits, and processed cheese that can make our lives easy, but they contain lots of salt and saturated fats. It’s better to avoid them entirely or reduce their consumption.
7. High-Fat Dairy
High-fat dairy products, such as whole milk, cheese, and butter, can harm your liver. Like any food, too much or excess calories can cause fatty liver disease. Since fat is caloric-dense, it requires moderation. This extra fat can cause swelling in the liver (due to fat deposits), leading to obesity and disrupting its normal function.
8. Artificial Sweeteners
You probably know about artificial sweeteners, especially when you are on a diet or have diabetes, as they are commonly used as sugar substitutes in sugar-free foods or diet products. Well, they are safe in limited amounts, but overconsuming can lead to liver problems.
Not only do these sweeteners activate our hunger like sugar would, but it has also been found to be correlated to impaired detoxification processes (the liver’s main job.)
9. Baked Food Items
Cakes, muffins, and cookies are everyone’s favorites, but do they also harm your liver? Yes, they can. Experts advise removing excessive baked goods from your daily diet, and they have various reasons for this:
- These items are rich in sugar and can contribute to obesity.
- Baked goods can raise triglyceride levels in your body due to their high-fat content, potentially leading to liver diseases.
- The main ingredient in these products is refined white flour, which is hard to digest and can result in excess liver fat.
10. Trans Fats
Trans fats are a type of unhealthy fat found in some processed and fried foods. These fats can mess up your liver’s ability to process other fats, and they also lead to irritation in the liver. After a while, this can cause a condition where your liver stores too much fat. It’s important to remove foods with trans fats, like packaged snacks and fast food, from your diet. Instead, eat foods with healthier fats like those found in nuts, avocados, and fish.
11. Herbal Supplements
Despite the “natural” label on certain herbal supplements, not all are universally safe for consumption. For example, kava kava, an herb commonly used by some individuals to alleviate menopausal symptoms or induce relaxation, has been linked to disruptions in liver function. Studies reveal its potential to impair proper liver function, leading to conditions such as hepatitis (inflammation) and even liver failure.
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