How Exercise Can Benefit Your Liver

How Exercise Benefits Liver Health

Regular exercise and a healthy diet are the best ways to maintain a healthy liver, an optimal weight, and support the immune system. Exercise helps liver disease in a few ways. First, it helps you control your weight by burning excess fat, which can prevent obesity. Exercise can also help increase levels of "good" high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which in turn lowers your triglyceride levels and "bad" low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Exercise also helps prevent and control other diseases associated with fatty liver disease, such as type 2 diabetes.

Types of Exercise

• Weight training strengthens your bones, which is particularly beneficial as liver disease can often cause osteoporosis, especially in women.
• Yoga puts less stress on the body, encourages blood flow, and strengthens bones and muscles.
• Aerobic exercise such as cycling, running, or walking is great for your cardiovascular system and has a positive effect on blood oxygenation (as the heart rate rises, it increases the amount of oxygen that goes to your organs including the liver).

Frequency

Liver disease can often cause fatigue, so it is important to stay realistic and factor this in when setting targets and goals for yourself. Do not push yourself too hard, but rather introduce a new activity gradually. Dr. Melissa Palmer, author and practicing hepatologist, recommends exercising three times a week to start off with, and aim for 30-45 minutes, anything more is a plus. Moderation will eventually lead to consistency. Talk to your doctor or physician about how often would suit you and remember to start small and work your way up to more as doing too much too soon can cause injury.

Perseverance

One week of exercise will not show you any physical results, it is important to remember that you will need to factor in exercise as part of your weekly routine from now on. You will notice positive mental and physical improvements as time goes on and exercise should become easier for you. Remember that being healthy is not a destination, it is an ongoing journey and your lifestyle changes should be permanent.

Motivation

Finding motivation can be hard, especially if you are not used to exercising. On the other hand, you do not really need to feel ready or motivated to start exercising. Remember that the human brain is wired to protect us from discomfort, stress, or uncertainty that comes with any new activity or situation. If you are waiting for the motivation to kick off, you may never feel ready to start working out. Not feeling motivated or ready doesn´t actually mean that you can´t exercise. You can feel the fear and do it anyway and the appetite will come with eating.

These tips can also help you get started and stay consistent:

• Monitor your mood – Write down how you feel after you work out, equally write down how you feel when you skip a workout. We know which one will make you feel better.
• Wear your workout clothes – This should drive you to want to work out. Nobody wants to take their workout clothes off without having exercised.
• Keep your eyes on the prize – Remember the reason why you are exercising, whether it’s to lose weight, get fit or improve your mood.
• Join a group – Joining an exercise group means you will have plenty of other people who are motivated and who will keep you motivated too.
• Commit to a class – If you pay for a class then you have the added incentive to go. Losing money and not working out is much worse than just skipping the workout!

Exercising on a Budget

You definitely do not need a fancy gym membership to start exercising. Running and brisk walking are easy ways to get started, some parks and beaches also have workout equipment installed for a free work out. There are plenty of videos on YouTube which are free to watch and can provide endless options for a good work out in the comfort of your own home. There may also be classes in your area that only require a donation, check local Facebook pages and notice boards for more information.

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Staying Hydrated

Ensure that you stay hydrated while exercising or doing sports, hydration is a vital component of liver health. When we work out we sweat more which can lead to dehydration if we are not drinking enough fluids. This can cause many problems for the body.