Alcohol FAQs

For most people it is best to completely stop drinking alcohol when you have a liver condition. This will help your liver to recover, whatever the cause of your liver damage.

Your liver has an amazing ability to repair itself. But it has limits. If your liver is already damaged, then drinking alcohol will add to that damage. And make it harder, or even impossible for your liver to heal completely.

If you usually drink a lot of alcohol, you might be advised to reduce the amount you drink slowly rather than stopping suddenly. This is to help with the symptoms of withdrawal. It can be dangerous for some people to stop drinking alcohol suddenly. Talk to your doctor or your local alcohol services about a safe reduction plan for you.

If quitting alcohol completely is not possible for you right now, then cutting down can still help. And is a positive step towards helping your liver.

You can find information about support for cutting down and stopping drinking at the end of the page at the end of this page.

If your liver condition is under control and wasn't caused by alcohol, it might be okay to drink from time to time. Check with your medical team.

The good news is that liver disease can often be reversed, if the cause of the damage is taken away soon enough.

If alcohol played a part in your liver condition, then stopping drinking could make a huge difference.

 But it depends on how much damage has already been done. The sooner you stop drinking alcohol, the more chance there is that your liver will be able to repair itself.

It is also important to try and take away anything else that is causing damage and do what you can to help your liver recover.

• Try to eat a healthy balanced diet
• Get tested for viral hepatitis
• Take any medicines you have been given for your liver condition
• Always talk to your doctor before trying any supplements, or alternative medicines
• Take our free online test to find out about your risk factors

This will depend on what your condition is, what caused it and how much damage there is to your liver. If you can drink alcohol again, it is very important to stick within the limits advised by your medical team. This may be the UK guidelines of no more than 14 units (6 to 7 drinks) with at least 3 days off a week. Or it may be less than this.

It is important to get personal medical advice from your liver team if you are thinking about drinking alcohol again.

When you keep drinking, your liver keeps getting damaged. It works hard to repair the damage. But if the damage keeps coming, eventually, your liver will not be able to keep up.

Stopping or cutting down on alcohol takes the pressure off and gives your liver chance to use its natural ability to repair.

It is the amount of alcohol in a drink that matters, not the type of drink. Drinking 9 units (about 1 bottle) of fine wine will have the same impact as 9 units of cheap cider.

No alcoholic drinks can cleanse, “detox” or “unclog” your liver.

Some alcoholic drinks contain a lot of sugar and this can also be bad for your liver.

This will depend on your condition, what caused it and how severe your liver damage is. So it is important to talk to your health care team about how these drinks could affect you.

If you usually drink alcohol and want to cut down, then switching to alcohol-free or low alcohol versions could help.

For some people who have already stopped drinking alcohol, alcohol free drinks can be a good alternative. But others find that the taste, smell and look of the drink increases their craving for alcohol and the risk of starting to drink alcohol again.

If you have had to deal with alcohol dependency, then it is best to avoid drinks that are an alcohol substitute. This will be different for everyone so speak to your medical team if you are unsure. If you are getting support for alcohol dependency, you can also talk to them about how alcohol-free drinks might affect you.

Even drinks labelled as “alcohol free” can have a very small amount of alcohol in them. Low alcohol drinks can have up to 1.2% alcohol. So they are not suitable if it is vital that you completely stop drinking alcohol. For example if you are on the transplant waiting list.

Some alcohol-free drinks can have a lot of sugar in them. Having a lot of sugar is also bad for your liver so try to find alcohol free drinks with less than 5g of sugar per 100ml.

Yes.

Wine and cider vinegar are made using alcohol. But this is all turned into other things. There is no alcohol left in a bottle of wine or cider vinegar.

If you are unsure if something contains alcohol, always check the label. If it contains alcohol, even a small amount, it should say so.

There are no foods or supplements that can prevent or undo damage caused to your liver by alcohol. But eating a healthy balanced diet can help your recovery.

If you are very unwell you may need to have supplements from your medical team. But some supplements you can buy can cause more liver damage. So it is important to talk to your doctor or to a registered NHS dietician before you try any.

More information about supplements

More information about eating, drinking and keeping active

More information about alternative and complementary treatments including milk thistle

Sometimes alcohol is all around us and there is pressure to join in. This can be really difficult, especially if other people do not know about your liver condition.

It is up to you if you want to tell someone about your condition. And it is ok to just say no thanks to a drink.

If you are thinking about telling people, it can help to decide in advance who you will tell and how much you will share.

You might be able to pick just 1 or 2 people you feel happy to talk to and ask them to help you out in situations where there is pressure to drink.

You can find more information to help with telling people about your condition here.

It can also help to share information with people. You could send them this page or information about your condition.

Some people prefer to just say that they cannot drink because of a medicine they are taking. Or because they have a problem with their digestive system.

We have some more ideas to help you cope with not drinking in social situations on our help with stigma page here.

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