Healthy Hepper.com Newsletter: Food Tips for your Hep C Liver

[Guest guest]

2/6/2009

Healthy Hepper.com Newsletter

 

You can get a free report with specific recipes for your liver at

http://www.healthyhepper.com/free-services.htm

 

Expert Food Tips for Chronic Hepatitis C: Part 1

 

Discover the importance of consuming whey protein and artichokes, and

how these and four other key foods can help your liver resist damage

from Hepatitis C infection. This is the first installment of this

invaluable 2-part article.

 

By Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

 

Although many are convinced of the importance of food in both causing

and relieving health problems, a substantial percentage of physicians

fail to utilize nutrition for guiding their patients back to wellness.

This is unfortunate, especially when their patients have chronic

ailments like Hepatitis C. Regardless of the involvement of their

doctor or their stage of liver disease, the food eaten by people with

Hepatitis C can either make their bodies feel better or worse.

 

Our fixit fast culture has developed a higher level of comfort with

drugs rather than foods; thus food as medicine has been largely

neglected. Circa 400 B.C., the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates,

said: & #147;Let your food be your medicine and your medicine, your food. & #148;

In the eighteenth century, one of the greatest gastronomes of the

world, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin proclaimed: & #147;Tell me what you

eat, and I will tell you what you are. & #148; Still popular today,

Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste is a treatise on the

relation between man & #146;s joy and survival with his ability to know and

experience the pleasures of taste.

 

In lieu of continually being advised to avoid foods that assault the

liver, many with chronic Hepatitis C are left wondering what they

should eat. For a clear understanding of six ideal foods for the

liver, the following tips are given:

 

1. Drink Whey Protein & #150; Add whey protein when making a smoothie

because it contains lactoferrin and builds glutathione levels. While

glutathione is the main antioxidant found inside liver cells,

lactoferrin stimulates the immune system and has a direct antiviral

property that hampers the Hepatitis C virus from attacking liver cells.

 

2. Cook Mung Beans & #150; Used by practitioners of Traditional Chinese

Medicine to detoxify poisons in the body, mung beans contain a natural

protease inhibitor. High in Vitamin B and C, potassium, magnesium,

iron, phosphorous, copper, fiber and protein, mung beans & #146; ability to

help a Hepatitis C-laden liver flush out toxins are worth the effort

to find and prepare.

 

3. Eat Shitake & #150; Shitake Mushrooms contain lentinan, a beta-glucan

with powerful effects on hepatitis and many other diseases, including

cancer. According to the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, lentinan is

used for cancer, high cholesterol, strengthening the immune system and

treating infections. These specialty mushrooms also raise white blood

cell counts and increase helper t-cells.

 

4. Love Artichokes & #150; A member of the milk thistle family that helps

control blood sugar levels, artichokes are known to support liver

health. This fibrous, green veggie contains cynarin, which promotes

the flow of bile from the liver to the gallbladder. This is very

important because if the bile is not transported adequately to the

gallbladder, the liver has an increased risk of being damaged.

 

5. Munch on Dandelion Greens & #150; By stimulating the flow of bile,

dandelion helps both the liver and gallbladder break down fat, prevent

gallstones and aid in detoxification. In addition, dandelion greens

have mild diuretic properties, which may help relieve ascites, a

common consequence of liver cirrhosis.

 

6. Pick Foods Rich in Selenium & #150; Because Hepatitis C encodes

selenoproteins, the virus depletes cells of selenium. Thus, those with

Hepatitis C need more selenium than the average person. Researchers

hypothesize that when cells are drained of selenium, the Hepatitis C

virus will spread from cell to cell looking for more. Thus, supply as

much selenium to your cells as possible with the following

selenium-rich foods: brazil nuts, broccoli, onions, leeks and garlic.

 

Using food to guide our health is not a new concept. While awareness

of how unhealthy food can damage our bodies has recently grown, much

of our medication-oriented society has forgotten about food & #146;s

therapeutic potential. Luckily, you needn & #146;t be a certified

nutritionist to know what choices to make in the grocery store. By

including whey protein, mung beans, shitake mushrooms, artichokes,

dandelion greens and selenium-rich foods into your diet, you can help

your body feel well despite being infected with Hepatitis C.

article from

http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2009/02/expert_food_tip.html

 

Wishing you health,

http://www.healthyhepper.com