Love Your Liver

Love Your Liver is our national awareness campaign devoted to liver health awareness and giving people the key steps needed to keep their liver healthy.

9 in 10 liver disease cases can be prevented with simple lifestyle changes and as part of our national campaign, we offer a free online screener, arrange national roadshows and work with healthcare professionals.

Please get in touch with the Love Your Liver team if you want to discuss getting involved in the campaign.

One in three of us are at risk of getting liver disease. It is a silent killer and people often don’t realise they have a problem until it is too late.
Pamela Healy, CEO, British Liver Trust

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. The Roadshow comprises a mobile unit where people can take a free online screening test 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 more

Three steps to Love Your Liver

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 be unable 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

Fatty Liver

Your liver processes most of the nutrients and fats in the food you eat. If you are overweight you increase your risk of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease which over time can cause lasting liver damage. Help your liver to work properly by:

eating a healthy balanced diet and drinking plenty of water
eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, reducing portion sizes and cutting down on your fat and sugar intake
taking some regular exercise – aim for a total of 30 minutes a day if you can

Diet and exercise have the best effect on your liver health – making long term changes that you can keep up is better than losing weight quickly.

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 faecal-oral transmission (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

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, 6 Dean Park Crescent, Bournemouth BH1 1HL