Looking after 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. This includes:

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

Alcohol

A quarter of us drink at levels that could put our health at risk.

Regularly drinking more than the recommended amount over a long period can damage your liver. This can lead to alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and liver cancer.

What you can do to reduce the damage that alcohol can have on your liver

Men and Women should drink no more than 14 units per week
Give your liver a minimum of two days in a row without alcohol every week to reduce the impact that alcohol can have on your liver and break the habit of drinking every day.
Don’t save up several days ‘allowance’ and drink it all at once – spread it evenly over three or more day

Obesity

Many of us are overweight and don’t do enough exercise

Fatty deposits can build up in your liver which can cause inflammation and scarring. This is more likely to happen if you are overweight, diabetic or regularly drink too much alcohol.

What you can do to reduce your risk:

Keep to a healthy weight
If you’re overweight, speak to your doctor about help with losing weight safely – avoid crash diets and rapid weight loss
Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is important: aim for 5 portions a day
Drink plenty of water
Try eating from a smaller plate and cutting down on fatty and sugary foods
Get at least half an hour’s exercise a day leaving you warm and slightly out of breath
Finding an exercise that you enjoy will help: try walking, swimming, cycling or dancing
Stick to the recommended guidelines for drinking alcohol.

Learn more about Non-Alcohol Related Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Viral hepatitis

There are several viruses that cause hepatitis. The common ones are hepatitis A, B and C. Most people recover from hepatitis A with no lasting liver damage, but hepatitis B and C can cause long term liver disease and even liver cancer.

Protect yourself

Never share razors, nail scissors or toothbrushes
Cover wounds, especially when you play sport
Only use licensed tattoo and piercing studios and make sure all equipment used has been sterilised
Use a condom during sex
Never share drug equipment, and don’t use rolled-up bank notes
If you need medical treatment abroad make sure only sterile equipment is used.

Learn more about Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C

Liver Good Life

Animated film explaining what the liver does, its importance and simple steps to protect your liver from alcohol damage, fatty liver disease and infection from viral hepatitis.

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.

Find out more about the campaign