Chronic Liver Disease Brochure
NUTRITIONAL CARE FOR THE LIVER
THE BASICS:
The liver is an
essential organ located in the upper right
quadrant of the abdomen. Its responsibilities
are numerous! These roles include but are not
limited to: regulating chemicals within the
blood, metabolizing drugs, breaking down as
well as creating substances that are easier for
the body to use. For the purposes of discussing
nutrition for the liver and patients with liver
disease, we will focus on the liver’s role in
glycogen storage and breakdown.
your body won’t be able to properly process
glucose into glycogen, or break glycogen down
into glucose, which means your body won’t
have enough energy to do all that it needs to
unless it uses other sources of energy like
protein and fat stores!
CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE
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help you either prevent yourself from
developing CLD or help you slow the
progression of the disease if you’re already
suffering from it. ALSO, CDL can also result in
malnutrition due to nausea and GI upset as well
as muscle deterioration since the body has to
find new sources of energy. For this reason,
protein intake is super important!
Chronic Liver Disease, also commonly referred
to as Cirrhosis, is long term disease of the liver,
often resulting in the replacement of healthy
tissue with scar tissue in the liver. Causes of
such a disease include Hepatitis, Alcoholism,
and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Some of
these diseases can be avoided with a healthy
diet! A healthy diet can also slow the disease’s
progression.
1.Avoid Alcohol! Patients with CDL should not
consume alcohol at all. Otherwise, women
should have 1 drink and men can have two.
HOW DOES
EFFECT
LIVER?
WHY IS THE LIVER IMPORTANT IN
NUTRITION?
The liver is where glycogen is stored. Glycogen
is the readily mobilized storage form of
glucose! Glucose is sugar that our bodies use
for energy! If your liver is not working well,
FOOD
YOUR
Everything we put into our bodies gets broken
down into smaller nutrients that our bodies can
use. For your liver, over consumption of
alcohol, as well as constant consumption of
foods high in sodium and cholesterol and
triglycerides can be extremely damaging over a
long period of time. Changing your diet can
2.Avoid Fatty foods, added sugars, and
processed foods. These can make it harder for
your liver to do its job!
3. Drink: Water (maintains weight), Coffee
(protects liver from alcohol damage) and Green
Tea (antioxidant).
4. Eat more fiber (oatmeal and veggies) and
polyphenols (blueberries, herbs and spices)
5. Eat balanced! Restriction can lead to
malnutrition! (ALSO take medication
responsibly)
Chronic Liver Disease Brochure
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REFERENCES
14 Best and Worst Foods for Your Liver. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/ss/slideshow-best-and-worstfoods-for-your-liver
ADA. (2020). Liver Cirrhosis. Retrieved from https://ada.com/conditions/liver-cirrhosis/
Berg, J. (1970, January 01). Glycogen Metabolism. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21190/
ChooseMyPlate. (2020). Vegetarian choices in the Protein Foods Group. Vegeterian Choices. Retrieved from
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/eathealthy/protein-foods/protein-foods-vegetarian
Chronic Liver Disease/Cirrhosis. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-anddiseases/chronic-liver-disease-cirrhosis
Goody. M. C (2009) Introduction: Cultural Competence and Nutrition Counseling Retrieved from 24active.com
Hanson. J & Sehgal. R (2016) How Should a Hospitalized Patient with Newly Diagnosed Cirrhosis Be Evaluated and Managed? Retrieved from the
Hospitalist
Liver: Anatomy and Functions. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/liveranatomy-and-functions
Silva, M., Gomes, S., Peixoto, A., Torres-Ramalho, P., Cardoso, H., Azevedo, R., Cunha, C., & Macedo, G. (2015). Nutrition in Chronic Liver
Disease. GE Portuguese journal of gastroenterology, 22(6), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpge.2015.06.004