Steps to take before you get pregnant

Most women know they need to see a doctor or midwife and make lifestyle changes while pregnant. But, it is just as important to start making changes before you get pregnant. These steps will help you prepare yourself and your body for pregnancy and give you a better chance of having a healthy baby.

 

See Your Doctor

See your doctor or midwife before you get pregnant. Even if you feel you are healthy and ready for a pregnancy, your doctor or midwife can do plenty ahead of time to help you prepare.

 

•           Your doctor or midwife will discuss your current health, your health history, and your family's health history. Some health problems in your family can be passed on to your children. Your doctor may refer you to a genetic counselor.

•           You may need blood tests, or you may need to get caught up on vaccines before you are pregnant.

•           Your doctor or midwife will talk with you about medicines, herbs, and supplements you may be taking. They can affect an unborn baby. Your health care provider may recommend medicine changes before you get pregnant.

•           Long-term health problems, such as asthma or diabetes, should be stable before you get pregnant.

•           If you are obese, your provider will recommend losing weight before pregnancy. Doing so will reduce your risk of complications in pregnancy.

 

Stop Smoking, Alcohol, and Drugs. Limit Caffeine

If you smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs, you should stop before you get pregnant. They can:

•           Make it harder for you to get pregnant

•           Increase the chance of miscarriage (lose the baby before it is born)

If you need help quitting smoking, alcohol, or drugs, talk to your doctor or midwife.

Alcohol can harm a growing fetus (unborn baby), even in small amounts. Drinking alcohol while you are pregnant can cause long-term problems for your baby, such as intellectual disability, behavioral issues, learning disabilities, and facial and heart defects.

Smoking is bad for unborn babies and puts your child at greater risk of health problems later in life.

•           Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have a baby with a lower birth weight.

•           Smoking also makes it harder for you to recover from your pregnancy.

Drugs that are not prescribed by a doctor (including street drugs) can be dangerous for you to take at any point in your life.

You should also cut down on caffeine when you are trying to get pregnant. Women who daily consume more than 2 cups (500 mL) of coffee or 5 cans (2 L) of soda that contains caffeine may have a harder time getting pregnant and a greater chance of miscarriage.

Limit unnecessary medicines or supplements. Discuss with your provider about both prescribed and over-the-counter medicines and supplements you take before you try to conceive. Most medicines have some risks, but many have unknown risks and have not been thoroughly studied for safety. If medicines or supplements are not absolutely necessary, do not take them.

Eat a Balanced Diet

Maintain or strive for a healthy body weight.

A balanced diet is always good for you. Follow a healthy diet before you get pregnant. A few simple guidelines are:

•                 Reduce empty calories, artificial sweeteners, and caffeine.

•                Eat foods that are high in protein.

•           Fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products will make you healthier before you get pregnant.

A moderate intake of fish will help both you and your baby to be healthy. The FDA states that “fish are part of a healthy eating pattern.” Some types of seafood contain mercury and should not be eaten in large amounts. Pregnant women should:

•           Avoid large ocean fish, such as shark and tilefish.

•           Limit tuna intake to 1 can (85 g) of white tuna or 1 tuna steak per week, or 2 cans (170 g) of light tuna per week.

 

If you are underweight or overweight, it is best to try to reach your ideal weight before you get pregnant.

•           Being overweight during pregnancy may increase your chances of problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, and needing a cesarean birth (C-section).

•           It is not a good idea to try to lose weight during pregnancy. But it is very good idea to attain a healthy pregnancy body weight before conceiving.

Take Vitamins and Folic Acid

Take a vitamin and mineral supplement that includes at least 0.4 milligrams (400 micrograms) of folic acid.

•           Folic acid reduces the risk of birth defects, especially problems with the baby's spine.

•           Start taking a vitamin with folic acid before you want to get pregnant.

•           Avoid high doses of any vitamin, especially vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins can cause birth defects if you take more than the normal recommended daily amounts. Regular pregnancy prenatal vitamins do not have excessively high doses of any vitamin.

Exercise

Exercising before you get pregnant may help your body deal with all of the changes that you will go through during the pregnancy and labor.

Most women who already exercise can safely maintain their current exercise program throughout the most of their pregnancy.

And most women, even if they are not currently exercising, should start on an exercise program of 30 minutes of brisk exercise 5 days per week, both before conceiving and throughout pregnancy.

Stress, Rest, and Relaxation

While you are trying to get pregnant, try to relax and reduce stress as much as possible. Ask your doctor or midwife about techniques to reduce stress. Get plenty of rest and relaxation. This may make it easier for you to become pregnant.

 

Hyperlipidemia

 

What are lipids?

Fats in the blood are called lipids. Lipids join with protein in your blood to form lipoproteins. Lipoproteins make energy for your body, so they're important to the cells in your body.

Three kinds of lipoproteins, (also called cholesterol), re in your blood:

(1) High-density (also called HDL, for short) cholesterol,

(2) Low-density (also called LDL) cholesterol and

 (3) Very low-density (VLDL) cholesterol.

Ø HDL is sometimes called the “good cholesterol” because it keeps cholesterol from buiding up in your arteries.

Ø LDL can be thought of as the “bad” cholesterol because high LDL levels can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke.

Ø What is a normal total cholesterol level

Ø A normal total cholesterol level is 200 mg per dL or less.

What is a normal LDL level?

A normal LDL level is 130 mg per dL or less. When the LDL level is higher than 130, fat can build up in the walls of your blood vessels. This fat can plug up your arteries and keep the blood from flowing through them. If an artery going to your heart gets blocked, you might have a heart attack. If an artery going to your brain gets blocked, you might have a stroke. A high LDL level causes heart disease, stroke, poor circulation and kidney disease.

What causes high levels of fat in the blood?

Most people have high levels of fat in their blood because they eat too much high-fat food. Some people have high fat levels because they have an inherited disorder. High lipid levels may also be caused by medical conditions such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, alcoholism, kidney disease, liver disease and stress. In some people, certain medicines, such as birth control pills, steroids and blood pressure medicines can cause high lipid levels.

Are there any signs of high cholesterol levels?

•                     Often there are no signs. Without a blood test, you may not know you have high levels of fat in your blood until you have a heart attack or a stroke. Some people with high lipid levels have yellowish, fatty bumps on their skin.

What is the treatment for high lipid levels?

The first ways to reduce your lipid levels are

(1) Eat less fat,

 (2) Exercise regularly and

 (3) Lose weight if you weigh too much. If you smoke, stop smoking. If these steps don't lower your LDL level enough, your doctor may have you take medicine to take the fat out of your blood.

What are some ways to cut down on fat in my diet?

•                     Don't eat fried foods or high-fat sauces.

•                     Instead of frying meat, broil it or grill it.

•                     Don't eat egg yolks. You can eat egg whites or egg substitutes.

•                     Use low-fat dairy products, such as skim milk or 1% milk, low-fat frozen yogurt, low-fat ice cream and low-fat cheeses.

•                     Don't use whole milk, full-fat ice cream, sour cream, cheese or milk chocolate.

•                     Put more fiber in your diet. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of fiber. Eat three to five servings of vegetables a day and two to four servings of fruits.

Ø What about exercise

Ø Aerobic exercises, such as walking, running, bicycling and swimming, are a good way to lower your blood cholesterol. Exercise also lowers your blood pressure, your blood sugar level and your stress level. If you weigh too much, aerobic exercise helps you burn calories. That will help you lose weight. Aerobic exercise should be done on a regular basis: work up to exercising for 30 minutes at a time four or five times a week. You can also exercise for a shorter time, such as 10 to 15 minutes. But if you exercise for only 10 to 15 minutes at a time, you need to exercise more often than four or five times a week.

What about cholesterol-lowering medicine?

Ø Medicines to lower your cholesterol level may be used if you are at high risk for heart disease or if your lipid levels don't drop after you have eaten a low-fat diet for a couple of months.

Ø There are different kinds of medicine that lower cholesterol. You may need to take just one medicine or you may need to take more than one, depending on how high your cholesterol is. Your doctor will take blood tests every so often to check on your cholesterol level and find out if the medicine is working.

Focus on Monounsaturated Fats

Ø As opposed to saturated fats, unsaturated fats have at least one double chemical bond that changes the way they are used in the body. Monounsaturated fats have only one double bond.

Ø Although some recommend a low-fat diet for weight loss, a study of 10 men found a 6-week, low-fat diet reduced levels of harmful LDL, but also reduced beneficial HDL.

Ø In contrast, a diet high in monounsaturated fats reduced harmful LDL, but also protected higher levels of healthy HDL.

Ø Here are a few great sources of monounsaturated fats. Some are also good sources of polyunsaturated fat:

•                     Olives and

Ø olive oil

•                     Canola oil

•                     Tree nuts, such as almonds, walnuts,

Ø pecans, hazelnuts and cashews

•                     Avocados

2. Use Polyunsaturated Fats, Especially Omega-3s

Ø Polyunsaturated fats have multiple double bonds that make them behave differently in the body than saturated fats. Research shows that polyunsaturated fats reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart disease.

Ø Polyunsaturated fats also seem to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Ø Omega-3 fatty acids are an especially heart-healthy type of polyunsaturated fat. They’re found in seafood and fish oil supplements (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source).

Ø Omega-3 fats are found in high amounts in fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring and deep sea tuna like bluefin or albacore, and to a lesser degree in shellfish including shrimp .

Ø All polyunsaturated fats are heart-healthy and may reduce the risk of diabetes. Omega-3 fats are a type of polyunsaturated fat with extra heart benefits.

3. Avoid Trans Fats

Ø Trans fats are unsaturated fats that have been modified by a process called hydrogenation.

Ø This is done to make the unsaturated fats in vegetable oils more stable as an ingredient. Many margarines and shortenings are made of partially hydrogenated oils.

Ø This is why food companies have used trans fats in products like spreads, pastries and cookies — they provide more texture than unsaturated, liquid oils.

Ø HEALTHLINE RESOURCES

Ø Find the diet that’s right for you with our free diet quiz

Ø Our free assessment ranks the best diets for you based on your answers to 3 quick questions.

4. Eat Soluble Fiber

Ø Soluble fiber is a group of different compounds in plants that dissolve in water and that humans can’t digest.

Ø Soluble fiber can also help increase the cholesterol benefits of taking a statin medication.

Ø Some of the best sources of soluble fiber include beans, peas and lentils, fruit, oats and whole grains. Fiber supplements like psyllium are also safe and inexpensive sources.

5. Exercise

Ø Exercise is a win-win for heart health. Not only does it improve physical fitness and help combat obesity, but it also reduces harmful LDL and increases beneficial HDL

Ø These women exercised three days per week with 15 minutes each of aerobic activity including walking and jumping jacks, resistance-band training and low-intensity Korean dance.

Ø While even low-intensity exercise like walking increases HDL, making your exercise longer and more intense increases the benefit Ideally, aerobic activity should raise the heart rate to about 75% of its maximum. Resistance training should be 50% of maximum effort.

Ø Any type of exercise improves cholesterol and promotes heart health. The longer and more intense the exercise, the greater the benefit.

6. Lose weight

Ø Dieting influences the way your body absorbs and produces cholesterol.

Ø Over these two years, “good” HDL increased while “bad” LDL did not change, thus reducing the risk of heart disease.

Ø Weight loss reduces total cholesterol, in part by decreasing the creation of new cholesterol in the liver. Weight loss has had different, though generally beneficial, effects on HDL and LDL in different studies.

7. Don’t smoke

Ø Smoking increases the risk of heart disease in several ways. One of these is by changing how the body handles cholesterol.

Ø Smoking appears to increase bad lipoproteins, decrease “good” HDL and hinder the body’s ability to send cholesterol back to the liver to be stored or broken down. Quitting smoking can reverse these effects.

8. Use alcohol in moderation

Ø When used in moderation, the ethanol in alcoholic drinks increases HDL and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Ø 1–2 drinks per day may improve HDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of clogged arteries. However, heavier alcohol use increases heart disease risk and harms the liver.

9. Consider plant sterols and stanols

Ø Multiple types of supplements show promise for managing cholesterol.

Ø Plant stanols and sterols are plant versions of cholesterol. Because they resemble cholesterol, they are absorbed from the diet like cholesterol.

Ø Plant stanols and sterols in vegetable oil or margarines compete with cholesterol absorption and reduce LDL by up to 20%. They are not proven to reduce heart disease.

10. Try supplements

There is strong evidence that fish oil and soluble fiber improve cholesterol and promote heart health. Another supplement, coenzyme Q10, is showing promise in improving cholesterol, although its long-term benefits are not yet known.

Fish oil

Fish oil is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Psyllium

Ø Psyllium is a form of soluble fiber available as a supplement.

Coenzyme Q10

Ø Coenzyme Q10 is a food chemical that helps cells produce energy. It is similar to a vitamin, except that the body can produce its own Q10, preventing deficiency.

Ø Even if there is no deficiency, extra Q10 in the form of supplements may have benefits in some situations.

Ø Fish oil supplements and soluble fiber supplements like psyllium improve cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Coenzyme Q10 supplements reduce total cholesterol levels, but it’s unclear whether this prevents heart disease.

Ø The bottom line

Ø Cholesterol has important functions in the body, but can cause clogged arteries and heart disease when it gets out of control.

Ø Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is prone to free radical damage and contributes most to heart disease. In contrast, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) protects against heart disease by carrying cholesterol away from vessel walls and back to the liver.

Ø If your cholesterol is out of balance, lifestyle interventions are the first line of treatment.

Ø Unsaturated fats, soluble fiber and plant sterols and stanols can increase good HDL and decrease bad LDL. Exercise and weight loss can also help.

Ø Eating Trans fats and smoking is harmful and should be avoided.

Ø If you’re concerned about your cholesterol levels, have them checked by your doctor. A simple blood draw, taken after an overnight fast, is all that’s required.

 

Diagnostic Methods of COVID-19

 

Positive viral tests indicate a current infection, while positive antibody tests indicate a prior infection. Other techniques include a CT scan, checking for elevated body temperature, checking for low blood oxygen level, and the deployment of detection dogs at airports.

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a process that amplifies (replicates) a small, well-defined segment of DNA many hundreds of thousands of times, creating enough of it for analysis. Test samples are treated with certain chemicals that allow DNA to be extracted. Reverse transcription converts RNA into DNA.

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) first uses reverse transcription to obtain DNA, followed by PCR to amplify that DNA, creating enough to be analyzed. RT-PCR can thereby detect SARS-CoV-2, which contains only RNA. The RT-PCR process generally requires a few hours.

Real-time PCR (qPCR) provides advantages including automation, higher-throughput and more reliable instrumentation. It has become the preferred method.

The combined technique has been described as real-time RT-PCR or quantitative RT-PCR and is sometimes abbreviated qRT-PCR, rRT-PCR or RT-qPCR, although sometimes RT-PCR or PCR are used.

Average sensitivity for rapid molecular tests were 95.2% (ranging from 68% to 100%) and average specificity was 98.9% (ranging from 92% to 100%).

Samples can be obtained by various methods, including a nasopharyngeal swab, sputum (coughed up material), throat swabs, deep airway material collected via suction catheter or saliva. Drosten et al. remarked that for 2003 SARS, "from a diagnostic point of view, it is important to note that nasal and throat swabs seem less suitable for diagnosis, since these materials contain considerably less viral RNA than sputum, and the virus may escape detection if only these materials are tested."

Sensitivity of clinical samples by RT-PCR is 63% for nasal swab, 32% for pharyngeal swab, 48% for feces, 72–75% for sputum, and 93–95% for bronchoalveolar lavage.

The likelihood of detecting the virus depends on collection method and how much time has passed since infection. According to Drosten tests performed with throat swabs are reliable only in the first week. Thereafter the virus may abandon the throat and multiply in the lungs. In the second week, sputum or deep airways collection is preferred.

Antigen

An antigen is the part of a pathogen that elicits an immune response. Antigen tests look for antigen proteins from the viral surface. In the case of a coronavirus, these are usually proteins from the surface spikes. SARS-CoV-2 antigens can be detected before onset of COVID-19 symptoms (as soon as SARS-CoV-2 virus particles) with more rapid test results, but with less sensitivity than PCR tests for the virus.

Antigen tests may be one way to scale up testing to much greater levels. Isothermal nucleic acid amplification tests can process only one sample at a time per machine. RT-PCR tests are accurate but require too much time, energy and trained personnel to run the tests."There will never be the ability on a [PCR] test to do 300 million tests a day or to test everybody before they go to work or to school.

Samples may be collected via nasopharyngeal swab, a swab of the anterior nares, or from saliva. The sample is then exposed to paper strips containing artificial antibodies designed to bind to coronavirus antigens. Antigens bind to the strips and give a visual readout. The process takes less than 30 minutes, can deliver results at point of care, and does not require expensive equipment or extensive training.

Swabs of respiratory viruses often lack enough antigen material to be detectable. This is especially true for asymptomatic patients who have little if any nasal discharge. Viral proteins are not amplified in an antigen test. According to the WHO the sensitivity of similar antigen tests for respiratory diseases like the flu ranges between 34% and 80%.

 

Imaging

Typical visible features on CT initially include bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral or posterior distribution. COVID-19 can be identified with higher precision using CT than with RT-PCR.

Subpleural dominance, crazy paving, and consolidation may develop as the disease evolves. Chest CT scans and chest x-rays are not recommended for diagnosing COVID-19. Radiologic findings in COVID-19 lack specificity.

Antibody tests

Automated analyzer for immunoassays, used to find SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and quantitative results for SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. 

The body responds to a viral infection by producing antibodies that help neutralize the virus. Blood tests (serology tests) can detect the presence of such antibodies. Antibody tests can be used to assess what fraction of a population has once been infected, which can then be used to calculate the disease's mortality rate.

The most notable antibodies are IgM and IgG. IgM antibodies are generally detectable several days after initial infection, although levels over the course of infection and beyond are not well characterized. IgG antibodies generally become detectable 10–14 days after infection and normally peak around 28 days after infection.This pattern of antibody development seen with other infections, often does not apply to SARS-CoV-2, however, with IgM sometimes occurring after IgG, together with IgG or not occurring at all. Generally, however, median IgM detection occurs 5 days after symptom onset, whereas IgG is detected a median 14 days after symptom onset. IgG levels significantly decline after two or three months.

Genetic tests verify infection earlier than antibody tests. Only 30% of those with a positive genetic test produced a positive antibody test on day 7 of their infection.

 

 

 

Types

Rapid diagnostic test (RDT)

RDTs typically use a small, portable, positive/negative lateral flow assay that can be executed at point of care. RDTs may process blood samples, saliva samples, or nasal swab fluids. RDTs produce colored lines to indicate positive or negative results.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

ELISAs can be qualitative or quantitative and generally require a lab. These tests usually use whole blood, plasma, or serum samples. A plate is coated with a viral protein, such as a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Samples are incubated with the protein, allowing any antibodies to bind to it. The antibody-protein complex can then be detected with another wash of antibodies that produce a color/fluorescent readout.

Neutralization assay

Neutralization assays assess whether sample antibodies prevent viral infection in test cells. These tests sample blood, plasma or serum. The test cultures cells that allow viral reproduction (e.g., VeroE6 cells). By varying antibody concentrations, researchers can visualize and quantify how many test antibodies block virus replication.

Chemiluminescent immunoassay

Chemiluminescent immunoassays are quantitative lab tests. They sample blood, plasma, or serum. Samples are mixed with a known viral protein, buffer reagents and specific, enzyme-labeled antibodies. The result is luminescent. A chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay uses magnetic, protein-coated microparticles. Antibodies react to the viral protein, forming a complex. Secondary enzyme-labeled antibodies are added and bind to these complexes. The resulting chemical reaction produces light. The radiance is used to calculate the number of antibodies. This test can identify multiple types of antibodies, including IgG, IgM, and IgA.

Reference – Wikipedia

13 ways to naturally reduce your blood triglycerides.

 

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood.

 

After you eat, your body converts the calories that you don’t need into triglycerides and stores them in your fat cells to be used for energy later.

While you do need triglycerides to supply your body with energy, having too many triglycerides in your blood can increase your risk of heart disease

1. Lose Some Weight

Whenever you eat more calories than you need, your body turns those calories into triglycerides and stores them in fat cells.

2. Limit Your Sugar Intake

3. Follow a Low-Carb Diet

4. Eat More Fiber

Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

5. Exercise Regularly

“Good” HDL cholesterol has an inverse relationship with blood triglycerides, meaning that high levels of HDL cholesterol can help lower triglycerides

Aerobic exercise can increase levels of HDL cholesterol in your blood, which can then lower blood triglycerides.

6. Avoid Trans Fats

Artificial trans fats are a type of fat added to processed foods to increase their shelf life.

Trans fats are commonly found in commercially fried foods and baked goods made with partially hydrogenated oils.

 

7. Eat Fatty Fish Twice Weekly

Fatty fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating two servings per week can decrease the risk of heart disease and reduce triglyceride levels.

8. Increase Your Intake of Unsaturated Fats

Studies show that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can reduce blood triglyceride levels, especially when they are replacing other types of fat.

Monounsaturated fats are found in foods like olive oil, nuts and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats are present in vegetable oils and fatty fish.

9. Establish a Regular Meal Pattern

Insulin resistance is another factor that can cause high blood triglycerides.

While research is unclear on how meal frequency affects blood triglyceride levels, studies show that setting a regular meal pattern can decrease many heart disease risk factors and prevent insulin resistance.

10. Limit Alcohol Intake

Alcohol is high in sugar and calories

11.Add Soy Protein to Your Diet

Soy is rich in isoflavones, which are a type of plant compound with numerous health benefits.

12. Eat More Tree Nuts

Tree nuts provide a concentrated dose of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and unsaturated fats, all of which work together to lower blood triglyceride

Tree nuts include

Almonds

Pecans

Walnuts

Cashews

Pistachios

Brazil nuts

Macadamia nuts

Keep in mind that nuts are high in calories. A single serving of almonds, or about 23 almonds, contains 163 calories, so moderation is key.

 

Top foods and drinks for liver health

 

There are many foods and drinks that a person can consume to help protect the liver.

Liver health is vital for overall health. Liver dysfunction can lead to liver disease, metabolic disorder, and even type 2 diabetes.

Top foods and drinks for liver health

Some of the best foods and drinks that are good for the liver include:

1. Coffee

The review also notes that daily coffee intake may help reduce the risk of chronic liver disease. It may also protect the liver from damaging conditions, such as liver cancer.

 

2. Oatmeal

Consuming oatmeal is an easy way to add fiber to the diet. Fiber is an important tool for digestion, and the specific fibers in oats may be especially helpful for the liver. Oats and oatmeal are high in compounds called beta-glucans.

 

3. Green tea

The study notes that there are still no specific recommendations for people with this condition to consume tea or tea extracts, but the link to liver health is promising.

4. Garlic

Adding garlic to the diet may also help stimulate the liver.

5. Berries

Many dark berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries, contain antioxidants called polyphenols, which may help protect the liver from damage.

6. Grapes

The study that features in the World Journal of Gastroenterology reports that grapes, grape juice, and grape seeds are rich in antioxidants that may help the liver by reducing inflammation and preventing liver damage.

7. Grapefruit

8. Prickly pear

The fruit and juice of the prickly pear may also be beneficial to liver health. The World Journal of Gastroenterology study suggests that compounds in the fruit may help protect the organ.

9. Plant foods in general

A 2015 study that appears in the journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that a large number of plant foods may be helpful for the liver.

These include:

v avocado

v banana

v barley

v beets and beet juice

v broccoli

v brown rice

v carrots

v fig

v greens such as kale and collards

v lemon

v papaya

v watermelon

People should eat these foods as part of a whole and balanced diet.

10. Fatty fish

Fatty fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are the good fats that help reduce inflammation. These fats may be especially helpful in the liver, as they appear to prevent the buildup of excess fats and maintain enzyme levels in the liver.

The study recommends eating oily fish two or more times each week. If it is not easy to incorporate fatty fish such as herring or salmon into the diet, try taking a daily fish oil supplement.

11. Nuts

Eating a handful of nuts, such as walnuts or almonds, each day may help maintain liver health. People should be sure not to eat too many, however, as nuts are high in calories.

12. Olive oil

Eating too much fat is not good for the liver, but some fats may help it. According to the World Journal of Gastroenterology study, adding olive oil to the diet may help reduce oxidative stress and improve liver function. This is due to the high content of unsaturated fatty acids in the oil.

Foods to avoid

Fatty foods: These include fried foods, fast food, and takeout from many restaurants. Packaged snacks, chips, and nuts may also be surprisingly high in fats.

Starchy foods: These include breads, pasta, and cakes or baked goods.

Sugar: Cutting back on sugar and sugary foods such as cereals, baked goods, and candies may help reduce the stress on the liver.

Salt: Simple ways to reduce salt intake include eating out less, avoiding canned meats or vegetables, and reducing or avoiding salted deli meats and bacon.

Alcohol: Anyone looking to give their liver a break should consider reducing their intake of alcohol or eliminating it from the diet completely.