Supplements for the Liver

gazzer

Folks. Looking for some advice after what has been a pretty scary few weeks.

For the last year or so I have been training pretty hard. 5 days a week in the gym and I really upped the amount of food I was taking (6 meals a day ranging from 10 egg white scrambled eggs in the morning to 2 chicken breasts with wholegrain rice in the evening along with approx 4 litres of full fat milk a day). I was counting the calories and making sure I had the correct ratio of carbs, protein, fats etc.

On top of all this I was taking multi vitamins, creatine, Cq10, fish oils, Tribulus and a couple of other supplements.

I put on a good bit of muscle and I looked in good condition, people where remarking on how big I had got etc.

Then in early May I noticed that the whites of my eyes where no longer white, they where in fact yellow, as was the skin around my eyes. Got a bit of a fright so I booked an appointment with my GP who referrred me straight away to the hospital. I was kept in for 5 days where I had a ton of tests done (CT Scan, Ultra sound, tons of blood tests).

Anyway the upshot of it is that apparantly I was taken far too many supplements and protein. The doctor that was looking after me said that I needed to stop taken everything and that eventually my liver would repair itself. There was enzymes and Bilrubin leaking into my blood.

For the next few weeks I had total bed rest and between sleeping and getting unmercifull itching episodes (because of the Bilrubin). I also had some accupuncture sessions. I slowly but surely lost the yellowness around my eyes and I dont feel too bad now.

Im back in work now and want to get back to my normal routine. Im planning to go back to the gym from next week, going to just do light weights initially and only go 2 or 3 times a week and hopefully by next month I can increase the weights and amount of times I go.

I am not going to take any supplements and I am cutting down on the amount of protein I take, however I was wondering if there was something I could take for my liver. I just want to make sure it is in good condition as even though I plan not to take any other supplments I am still weary that this could happen again. Id rather be pro active than reactive.

Thanks.

calfmuscle

So sorry to hear about your troubles and thanks for sharing your experience. There are so many people out there spending money to get "healthy" when they are in fact just damaging themselves its scary! The best thing you can do for you liver is eat every thing in moderation especially fat and avoid alcohol. You don't need supplements and please don't start taking anything with out asking your consultant first. (And I do mean consultant not your gp!)

RMD

Out of curiosity what were your daily macros and what's your weight? I've never heard of such an extreme reaction to high protein intake.

Mellor

gazzer wrote:

I was counting the calories and making sure I had the correct ratio of carbs, protein, fats etc.

What were you calories, marco ratios etc.
If you were taking too mich then obviously they weren't correct.

rocky

I wouldn't have supplements for the liver, only eat at maintenance and the liver will take care of itself. Depending on what the actual problem was, eggs may be a good source of choline (especially the yolk) [but don't eat 10 of them daily, start with 2-3 and see how you get on ] - this will help the liver export the fat it may produce.

Was your diet low carb and could the liver have been put under stress by having to make glucose from protein?

The Guvnor

http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/products/liv_syrup.htm may be of benefit.

It is readily available and is not expensive.

squod

Get back to whole foods. They say carrot juice is good for that. If you're going down that road it's important to eat them ''live'' not cooked. Buy them with the stalks (leaves) on in tesco? and juice them IMO.

One of the juice bars up here will do it for you afaik. Or splash out on a juicer. Carrots, apples, berries.

Discostuy

To echo what others have said, I wouldn't start worrying about supplements or other things to "repair" your liver. It doesn't so much sound like your damaged it, just that it got backed up with too much stuff.

If you think of it like a filter for the body, it can only breakdown so much at a time before it gets clogged. To many complex supplements and man made multi-vitamins can take a long time to break down.
As a result, the effect was the excess being backlogged and polluting the blood.

The liver is an amazingly strong organ, and one of the few that can naturally repair itself when needed. You just need to keep it running clean.
Cranberry juice is a great detoxifier, and just drink plenty of water.

The skin and eyes are a great indicator to a persons health. They can be the first indicator to toxins in the body which is usually a sign the liver/kidneys are struggling.

Drug addicts/chronic drinkers would be examples of this. Livers on their last legs will have them looking yellow/jaundiced due to toxins in the blood stream.

Anyways, sorry for rambling.
Just drink plenty of water, as little alcohhol as possible and don't be in a hurry to take supplements as the liver will take care of itself if you don't burden it.