Liver damage

I'm starting a new thread about this because it is near and dear to my heart and very much an integral part of my journey. If you don't want to hear about how your diet can impact your health (good and bad), stop reading now!

In 2004 when I decided to stop chemo, I still had 2 active tumors in my liver and my oncologist had told me I had a "fatty liver". I was also getting ready to have to go on a 4th different blood pressure med, my blood levels were abysmal, my body was a mess, and my mindset was scaring me. I had to change things and had to do it quickly and aggressively.

I did a ton of reading about what I could do to get my body back as quickly as I could. I concentrated on my blood levels and the cleansing of my elimination system. My thinking was that if I "cleaned it up and got as much gunk out, then it would work more efficiently and effectively. I started with my liver and pancreas. With the help of my ND, I started juicing twice a day. There were several things that did for my body. It got already broken down nutrients into my liver about as quickly as you can while giving my digestive system a break. I only ate red meat once or twice a month because it is so difficult and time consuming for the body to digest. I juiced 1/4 carrots, cabbage, celery, and beets. The beets were specifically for my liver and bloodstream.

When I did eat any meat, poulty, or dairy products I made sure they didn't contain any antiboitics or had been given steriods or growth hormones. The liver also gets rid of toxins and other "bad" things so I didn't want to add an additional burden to it. I wanted it "firing on all cylinders", I really needed it to. I also only ate grass fed not grain fed products since they have less fat and more nutrition.

Lastly and I'm probably going to get blasted for this but I avoided sugar for a while. Sugar, known as sucrose (including beet and cane, white and brown) is made up of a 50/50% combo of a molecule of fructose and a molecule of glucose. Fructose is the sweeter of the 2 molecules. There are also products with free standing fructose and free standing glucose, like fruits and veggies. High fructose corn syrup is a man made product that is 55% fructose and 45% glucose, much sweeter than sucrose.

Free standing fructose is absorbed by the small intestines and that is why some babies and adults may get diarhea from eating certain fruits and veggies.

Sucrose is not absorbed by the small intestines, it is sent to the liver. The liver splits the molecules and sends the glucose on out into the body for all cells to metabolise but keeps the fructose and metabolises it itself! If it gets too much fructose at one time, like in liquid form from a soda the liver converts it to fat and it's not one of the good fats our bodies need. It is bad fat and contributes to a fatty liver. So to again take additional burden off my liver I avoided sugar as much as I could for months.

I did take milk thistle later on but not the first year. The cool thing about the liver is it is very responsive and can be affected very quickly.

I hope this helps some of you. If you want a really good explanation about the sugar "stuff" and how the president of Sloan-Ketterings Cancer Center and the director of the Cancer Center at Harvard Medical School feel about it, you really should read the long article Hatsheput posted a few weeks ago title "Is Sugar Toxic".

Lisa P.