Love Your Liver This January

With the festive indulgence period now well and truly over, NHS East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group is backing Love Your Liver Month, a campaign run each January by the British Liver Trust to encourage people to get their liver back into tip-top condition after Christmas.

The campaign explains that it is possible to knock our livers back into shape quickly by taking three simple steps:

• Keep off alcohol for two or three days in a row
• Take more exercise and stay fit
• Cut down on sugar and fat.

However, it is important to continue to follow this advice throughout the year to maintain good liver health. Not drinking for two to three days’ running every week and drinking within the recommended limits during the rest of the week will repair the liver and keep it healthy.

Eating well and exercising regularly will prevent people getting overweight and developing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Cutting down on daily food indulgences and not overloading on sugary drinks will help optimise liver function.

Jo Evans, Commissioning Lead for Older People and Long Term Conditions, said:

“One of our main priorities is to stop people falling ill as prevention is better than cure for both patients and the NHS. That’s why we’re backing Love Your Liver Month. 95% of all liver disease is preventable and stems from lifestyle trends relating to alcohol, obesity and viral hepatitis. If we can encourage people to combine healthy eating and regular exercise with sensible drinking habits we can hopefully prevent levels of liver disease increasing.

“The liver is a durable organ that can repair itself very quickly if people follow the advice of the British Liver Trust.”

To support people wanting to assess the health of their livers, the British Liver Trust has launched an online screener that will advise users if they might be at risk of liver damage.

Visit www.loveyourliver.org.uk to access the screener and to read more about the Love Your Liver campaign.