5 Ways to Keep Your Liver Healthy

5 Ways to Keep Your Liver Healthy

Eat a balanced diet. Fill up on whole grains, nuts, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats-and limit saturated fat, sugar, and sodium.

Exercise regularly. It helps you maintain a reasonable body mass index, which safeguards against NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) and NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), says liver specialist Steven K. Herrine, M.D., professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Drink in moderation. Excessive alcohol use is the second most common cause of cirrhosis, after hepatitis C, and a risk factor for alcoholic hepatitis (liver inflammation and cell destruction) and fatty liver, or steatosis. Not everyone who drinks to excess develops liver disease, but limiting drinks to one per day will reduce your risk of alcohol-related liver disease.