What Are the Signs Your Liver Is Healing?
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One of your body’s most remarkable qualities is its ability to heal itself. Consider what happens when you get a cut: platelets in your blood clot together to stop the bleeding, white blood cells remove the dead or injured cells, and new healthy cells repair the damaged tissue.
While this is a visible example of how our body repairs itself, our body’s cells are constantly working to bring us back to a natural state of homeostasis or equilibrium. When we ingest harmful substances, such as alcohol, our body has to work extra hard to rid toxins from our body. Over time, chronic exposure to alcohol can cause significant damage across our bodily systems, particularly our liver.
So can your liver repair itself? Absolutely! With proper care, your liver can bounce back, regenerating itself even after years of exposure to toxic substances like alcohol. How long does this process take, and how can you tell if your liver is healing? Let’s take a look.
Our liver is the largest internal organ in our body, and its role is to eliminate waste and toxic substances. Whenever we consume alcohol, most of it goes through the liver, while the rest gets out of our system through our breath, sweat, and urine.
The liver processes alcohol in two steps. First, it converts it to acetaldehyde — a compound even more toxic than alcohol itself. This toxin can cause damage over time, especially as the liver starts lagging behind, leading to acetaldehyde buildup. The second step involves converting acetaldehyde to harmless acetate (a substance similar to vinegar), which is then excreted from the body by the kidneys.
As the alcohol in our system is processed, it can cause significant damage to liver cells and enzymes. While an occasional drink might not do much harm, regular alcohol consumption can cause liver damage or disease. In extreme cases, it can lead to liver cirrhosis, a widespread scarring of the liver that cannot be healed. However, prolonged alcohol consumption is more likely to cause fatty liver disease and hepatitis, both of which can be managed — and even reversed — before progressing to cirrhosis.
Liver damage might not show any signs at first. As the damage progresses, however, it might lead to several signs and symptoms, such as fatigue, nausea, weight loss, jaundice (yellow eyes and skin), loss of appetite, drowsiness, confusion, blood in stools, vomiting blood, or swollen ankles, feet, or stomach. But can the liver heal itself?
Our liver can heal itself from the effects of alcohol within weeks, so long as cirrhosis has not developed. But even if cirrhosis is present, other types of damage — such as hepatitis — can heal once alcohol use is stopped.
In fact, research indicates that fatty liver disease will almost completely heal within about three weeks of stopping alcohol use. By the first month after stopping, the liver should be almost entirely healed. However, it’s worth noting that healing rates differ for everyone and depend on a variety of factors, such as sex assigned at birth, hormone levels, body weight, and overall health.
When our liver begins to repair itself, we’ll likely notice some effects. Here are some signs our liver is healing:
Blood tests can provide an overview of how well your liver is functioning. If you have concerns, you can contact your doctor or medical professional to talk about doing lab work.
In addition to eliminating alcohol, we can do several things to help our liver heal and repair itself. For instance, drinking plenty of water can support liver function by making liver cells work better and improving blood flow to the liver. Experts recommend drinking six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. If we’re exercising or outside in the sun for long periods of time, we should be drinking more.
Similarly, it’s important to eat a liver-healthy diet. Certain foods — especially fat, sugar, and salt — place increased stress on the liver. Try opting for nutrient-dense foods high in fiber, which can help improve liver health.
Finally, regular physical activity can help increase our metabolism and improve our overall health. It also helps improve circulation, allowing our body to work more efficiently.
Keep in mind that of all the things we can do to help our liver heal, cutting out alcohol is the most important. If you’re finding it difficult to stop drinking, Reframe can help.
Although it isn’t a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), the Reframe app can help you cut back on drinking gradually, with the science-backed knowledge to empower you 100% of the way. Our proven program has helped millions of people around the world drink less and live more. And we want to help you get there, too!
The Reframe app equips you with the knowledge and skills you need to not only survive drinking less, but to thrive while you navigate the journey. Our daily research-backed readings teach you the neuroscience of alcohol, and our in-app Toolkit provides the resources and activities you need to navigate each challenge.
You’ll meet millions of fellow Reframers in our 24/7 Forum chat and daily Zoom check-in meetings. Receive encouragement from people worldwide who know exactly what you’re going through! You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with our licensed Reframe coaches for more personalized guidance.
Plus, we’re always introducing new features to optimize your in-app experience. We recently launched our in-app chatbot, Melody, powered by the world’s most powerful AI technology. Melody is here to help as you adjust to a life with less (or no) alcohol.
And that’s not all! Every month, we launch fun challenges, like Dry/Damp January, Mental Health May, and Outdoorsy June. You won’t want to miss out on the chance to participate alongside fellow Reframers (or solo if that’s more your thing!).
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