Love Your Liver!

Don’t drink a lot of alcohol. It can damage liver cells and lead to the swelling or scarring that becomes cirrhosis, which can be deadly.

How much alcohol is too much? U.S. government guidelines say men should drink no more than two drinks a day and women only one.

Eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise. Your liver will thank you. You’ll keep your weight under control, which helps prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition that leads to cirrhosis.

Watch out for certain medicines. Cholesterol drugs and the painkiller acetaminophen (Tylenol) can hurt your liver if you take too much.

Don’t touch or breathe in toxins. Cleaning products, aerosol products, insecticides, chemicals, and additives in cigarettes have chemicals that can damage your liver. Avoid direct contact with them, and don’t smoke.

Drink coffee. Research shows that it can lower your risk of getting liver disease. No one knows why this is so, but it’s worth keeping an eye on as more research is done.