About your liver
You only have one liver, it’s important to know how to look after it.
Your liver is the largest organ inside your body and does hundreds of essential jobs.
- Fighting infection and disease
- Destroying poisons and drugs (including alcohol)
- Cleaning the blood
- Controlling the amount of cholesterol
- Processing food once it has been digested
It works hard and can take a lot of abuse, but it is like an elastic band – it can only stretch so far before it breaks.
Find out more about your liver
Love Your Liver events
An important part of our Love Your Liver campaign is our national roadshow. People can take a free online screening test on the mobile roadshow unit and find out if they are at risk. Free scanning will also be available using a non-invasive Fibroscan device. There will be expert advice on how to keep your liver healthy from healthcare professionals who will be on hand to provide advice on diet, exercise and healthy living.
Find out moreThree steps to Love Your Liver
Cut down on alcohol
The liver is your largest internal organ. As well as hundreds of other jobs, it processes the alcohol you drink. If you drink over the recommended daily guidelines (see below), your liver will not be able to process the alcohol you consume quickly enough, which damages the cells in your liver.
Love Your Liver by:
- drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol per week
- taking 3 days off alcohol every week to give your liver a chance to repair itself
- avoiding alcohol if you are pregnant or trying to conceive
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Keep to a healthy weight
A healthy liver should contain little or no fat. But in some people fat builds up in the liver. This leads to a condition called non-alcohol related fatty liver disease (NAFLD). If fatty deposits build up over a long time they can damage the liver and stop it working properly.
Reduce the risk of NAFLD by:
- keeping to a healthy weight
- eating a healthy balanced diet
- getting more physically active
Making long term changes that you can keep up is generally better for your health than losing weight quickly. Download our Eating Well factsheet for more information and tips on eating a healthy, balanced diet.
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Protect yourself from viral hepatitis
Blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B and C can cause permanent liver damage and increase the risk of liver cancer. Hepatitis A and E are spread by poo that carries the infection (usually through contaminated food or water).
Avoid these viruses by:
- getting vaccinated against Hepatitis A and B when travellling abroad (there is no vaccine for hepatitis C or E)
- never sharing personal items like toothbrushes, razors, nail scissors or tweezers
- practising safer sex
- using only licensed tattoo and piercing parlours and making sure all equipment used has been sterilised
- always using clean needles, syringes and other equipment if using drugs
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Get involved in Love Your Liver
Love Your Liver events are a great way to raise awareness of liver health. We can provide you with advice, support and materials to support your event.
Click on the sections below to find out about the different types of event and how each one works:
- For healthcare professionals interested in holding a Love Your Liver event, click here
- To organise a corporate wellbeing or awareness event, click here
- If you are an individual or club wanting to organise an awareness event or Perk Up! coffee morning, click here
Contact us today to discuss how you can help share the Love Your Liver message in your community
Phone: 01425 481320
Email: loveyourliver@britishlivertrust.org.uk
Post: Love Your Liver, British Liver Trust, Venta court, 20 Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8FE
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