Experts Discuss Liver Disease Nutrition and Health Care

Author: Meng Qinghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: This book is written by top experts and frontline physicians who have long been engaged in liver disease treatment, closely aligning with the major research project undertaken by Beijing You'an Hospital. It starts from the mechanism of disease development, focusing on the nutritional and metabolic characteristics of chronic liver disease patients. It selects several representative foods from common household recipes and closely connects them with the details of liver disease patients in terms of food composition, nutritional value, and cooking methods. The aim is to provide scientific dietary guidance for chronic liver disease patients, thereby enhancing their physical fitness, improving their immune function, reducing the occurrence of complications, and ultimately improving their quality of life. Hepatitis A, B, and C are not, what is is that you don't know how to prevent and treat them. This book uses professional knowledge and simple language to help you understand liver disease, prevent it, and treat it. Starting from the mechanism of disease development and focusing on the nutritional and metabolic characteristics of chronic liver disease patients, it selects several representative foods from common household recipes and closely connects them with the details of liver disease patients in terms of food composition, nutritional value, and cooking methods. Diet is extremely important for liver disease patients, and experts teach you how to use "eating" to treat liver disease!
The liver is the largest digestive gland in the human body and also the central station of metabolism. The main functions of the liver include glucose decomposition and storage; participation in the metabolism of proteins, fats, vitamins, and hormones; detoxification; bile secretion; phagocytosis and defense functions; coagulation factor production; regulation of blood volume and water-electrolyte balance; and heat production. During the embryonic period, the liver also has hematopoietic functions. It is estimated that there are more than 500 chemical reactions that occur in the liver, which is known as the "chemical factory" of the human body. Experiments on animals have shown that even with appropriate treatment, animals can only survive for more than 50 hours after having their livers completely removed, further demonstrating that the liver is an indispensable important organ for maintaining life activities.
The liver and glucose metabolism Starch or sugar in food is absorbed by the small intestinal mucosa and cannot be utilized by the human body in a short period of time. With blood flow, it reaches the liver, where it is converted into liver glycogen for storage. The liver stores glucose for you, just like a battery stores energy, so it can supply your body with the energy it needs at any time. Liver glycogen plays an important role in regulating blood glucose levels to maintain stability. When engaging in labor, fasting, or having a fever, a large amount of sugar is consumed in the blood, and liver cells can decompose liver glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream to be delivered to all tissues. At the same time, the liver is also an important organ for converting glucose into energy. A healthy adult liver contains about 100 grams of liver glycogen, and heavy physical labor for 2 to 3 hours or fasting for more than 10 hours can deplete all the liver glycogen, so it must be continuously replenished. In addition to sugar from food, other non-sugar substances, such as amino acids, glycerol, and lactic acid, can also be converted into glycogen through metabolism in the body. Therefore, blood sugar levels often change when suffering from liver disease.
The liver and protein metabolism The liver has a strong ability to synthesize proteins. After partial liver resection or damage, the liver can accelerate protein synthesis to restore its structure. However, when liver disease reaches a certain extent, the liver's ability to synthesize proteins may not meet the body's needs, leading to insufficient protein in the body. The proteins synthesized by the liver include tissue proteins, various enzymes needed for metabolic processes, and plasma proteins. Proteins from food are decomposed into amino acids by digestive fluids and absorbed by the digestive tract. In the liver, amino acids are used to re-synthesize proteins, which are then released into the bloodstream to meet the needs of all organs and tissues. The liver is the main site for synthesizing proteins in the blood. Since plasma proteins can be used for the renewal of proteins in other tissues of the human body, the liver's role in synthesizing plasma proteins is of great significance for maintaining the body's protein metabolism.
Amino acids Amino acids produced during the metabolism of the body are toxic to humans. The liver can synthesize most of the ammonia into urea, which is excreted from the urine through the kidneys. When liver cell function declines, the body cannot excrete ammonia normally, leading to increased blood ammonia levels, which can cause hepatic encephalopathy. Liver cells contain various transaminases that can convert one amino acid into another, increasing the body's adaptability to amino acids from different foods. When liver cells are damaged, transaminases are released into the blood, and blood transaminase levels rise.
The liver and fat metabolism The liver maintains the stability of various lipids in the body, such as fatty acids, cholesterol, and phospholipids.