The Best Hepatitis Diet
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In addition to creating and executing a weekly grocery list, taking the time to research and prepare meals that are good for you can be a major chore. In fact, sometimes eating a healthy diet feels like a full time job. However, every effort to feed your body well pays off more than usual for people with chronic hepatitis.
Chronic hepatitis is a continual liver inflammation battle. Since your liver metabolizes everything consumed, what you eat makes a significant impact on your liver’s well being – either by aggravating inflammation or cooling it off. While this is an over-simplification of the physiological interaction between food and liver cells, the end result of perpetuating the inflammatory process or inhibiting inflammation is drastically different depending on the items ingested.
Many of us lead busy lives: working one or more jobs, trying to be a good parent, communicating with our families, finding time to socialize, and heeding healthy living advice. At times, hitting all of these marks can make even the most well rounded adult feel overwhelmed. Eating food, something we must do several times a day, frequently becomes rushed. Quick, convenient and easy meals leave more time for the 99 other tasks on the day’s docket. Regrettably, fast food is frequently a poor choice for liver health.
In an effort to minimize liver inflammation, avoid foods containing:
- Alcohol
- Sugar
- Fat
- Lots of Salt
- Chemicals
- Preservatives
- White Bread or Carbs
- Anything Fried or Processed
- Artificial Sweeteners
To help people with chronic hepatitis eat meals that direct them towards health instead of illness, specific examples of “eat this, not that” are presented below.
Breakfast
Running a little late in the morning might lead to grabbing a bacon, egg and cheese bagel from the shop down the street. The fat and simple carbohydrates from this quick meal are guaranteed to inflame your liver.
Eat This Instead
Eat a hard-boiled egg, oatmeal with fresh fruit, or avocado on whole grain toast.
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- Eggs are fantastic sources of protein, an essential for liver cell recovery.
- Oats help flush out inflammatory fat.
- Fruit provides antioxidants to protect liver cells.
- Avocado is full of healthy fats, which slows liver damage.
- Whole grains contain vitamins and minerals needed for optimal liver function.
Coffee
A majority of Americans rely on their morning cup of coffee to motivate. The difference (when it comes to liver health) between coffee drinks is in the details. Instead of infuriating your liver with cream and three sugars, consider switching to a kinder cup.
Black coffee is ideal, but for those who want a lighter and sweeter drink, adding skim milk and a tad of honey keeps it liver-friendly. It won’t taste exactly the same, but you will get used to it – and your liver will be much happier.
Snack
When you need just a little sustenance between meals, what you choose to snack on can make a huge difference to a liver with hepatitis. Granola bars and chips may seem like a decent option, but you can do much better. Granola bars often have a lot of sugar, or even worse (high fructose corn syrup) and may have preservatives that are hard for your liver to break down. Most chips contain fats that can irritate your liver.
Eat This Instead
Instead, choose carrots and hummus, fresh fruit or unsalted walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds or cashews.
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- Hummus and nuts are loaded with protein that gives your liver fuel for repairing injury.
- Carrots and fruit contain antioxidants that help protect against liver injury.
Lunch
Lunch seems to pose one of the biggest hepatitis challenges, because few people are able to cook a healthy lunch at home. Common lunch items are burgers, deli sandwiches, soups and pre-packaged salads. All of these, even the salad, are full of potential liver inflammation ingredients. The fat and grease from a burger will cause liver cell inflammation. Deli meat is typically full of sodium and preservatives, which aggravate your liver, and white bread causes a quick spike in blood sugar – which is inflammatory. Soups are frequently very high in sodium, which makes you retain fluid and can lead to excess toxins in your blood stream – a guaranteed recipe for liver inflammation. Salads can be healthy, if the right things are inside. A salad becomes a liver inflammation party when bacon bits, croutons, creamy dressing, crispy chicken, candied nuts and cheese are added.
Eat This Instead
By planning ahead, you can make hepatitis friendly lunch choices. Here are 4 tasty ideas!
- One example is non-fat Greek yogurt (without sugar) and fresh berries. The yogurt is a superb source of protein while also harboring digestive friendly bacteria and fresh berries are very high on the antioxidant scale.
- Another good choice is mixed greens, grilled chicken breast and veggies with lemon juice and olive oil for a dressing. Mixed greens provide antioxidants and fiber, olive oil contains healthy fat, lemon juice contains antioxidants and also stimulates bile movement, and chicken breast is a good source of lean protein.
- Quinoa with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato and chickpeas is another liver-friendly and tasty option for inhibiting liver inflammation. Quinoa is a whole grain that also contains protein; artichokes (related to milk thistle) help your liver defend against inflammation, and chickpeas are an additional source of protein.
- For sandwich lovers, make your own! A multigrain bread sandwich with roasted turkey, mustard and arugula provides another well-rounded dose of liver supportive ingredients.
Dinner
Eating a dinner of fried chicken, meat lasagna or barbecued ribs may sound delicious, but each of these meals are hazardous to a liver battling hepatitis. These meals contain a substantial amount of unhealthy fats, which fan the flames of liver inflammation.
Eat This Instead
Instead, try these three liver-friendly meals:
- Steamed fish with a baked sweet potato
- Black beans with brown rice and roasted vegetables
- Turkey burgers with garlicky greens
Fish, turkey and beans are terrific sources of protein; sweet potatoes, roasted veggies, garlic and greens are loaded with antioxidants, and brown rice is a healthful whole grain.
Since there is no specific hepatitis diet, those wanting to improve their liver’s health often feel lost among hundreds of sources of advice. The “eat this, not that” examples given above are designed to be guides to help those with hepatitis plan ahead and make better food choices. By using this guide, shopping, planning and preparing meals that reduce liver inflammation might get a little bit easier – and ease the fiery nature of chronic hepatitis.
Editor’s Note: Milk Thistle with Artichoke & Turmeric, Liver Support & Detox and Clinical LiverSupport are all supplements that contain milk thistle, artichoke and turmeric. All three attack inflammation, cleanse, detox, support, and protect your liver.
Related Articles
https://hepatitisc.net/living/sodium-and-the-liver/, Sodium and the Liver: What those with Hepatitis C Should Know, Jenelle Marie Pierce, Retrieved June 21, 2018, Health Union, LLC, 2018.
https://www.hepatitiscentral.com/hepatitis-c/diet/, A Basic Diet for Hepatitis, Retrieved June 17, 2018, Hepatitis Central, 2018.
https://www.hepatitiscentral.com/news/4-excellent-snack-options-for-people-living-with-hepatitis-c/2/, 4 Excellent Snack Options for People Living With Hepatitis C, Nicole Cutler, L.Ac., Retrieved June 21, 2018, Hepatitis Central, 2018.
https://www.lifebeyondhepatitisc.com/2015/06/ten-healthy-diet-tips-hepatitis-c-liver-disease-2/, 12 Healthy Diet Tips for Hepatitis C and Liver Disease, Retrieved June 20, 2018, Connie M. Welch, LLC, 2018.
https://www.liversupport.com/fatty-liver-diet, Fatty Liver Diet, Retrieved June 21, 2018, liversupport.com, 2018.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320727.php, What to eat if you have hepatitis C, Natalie Olsen, RD, LD, ACSM, EP-C, Retrieved June 20, 2018, Healthline Media UK, Ltd, 2018.
