Treatment for Cirrhosis of the Liver with Diet

Diet for Cirrhosis of the Liver

The patient should be kept in bed. He must abstain completely from alcohol in any form. He should undergo an initial liver cleaning programme with a juice fast for seven days. Freshly extracted juices from red beets, lemon, papaya and grapes may be taken during this period. This may be followed by the fruit and milk diet for two to three weeks.


In this regimen the patient should have three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits and milk. The fruits may include apples, pears, grapes, grapefruits. Oranges, pineapples and peaches.


Two pints of milk may be taken on the first day. It should be increased by half a pint daily up to four or five pints a day. The milk should be fresh and unboiled but may be slightly warmed if desired.


It should be sipped very slowly.

After the fruit and milk diet the patient may gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet of three basic food groups namely seeds nuts and grains vegetables and fruits with emphasis on raw organically grown foods. Adequate high quality protein in necessary in cirrhosis. The best complete proteins for liver patients are obtained from raw goat's milk home-made raw cottage cheese sprouted seeds and grains and raw nuts especially almonds.


Vegetables such as beets squashes, bitter gourds, egg-plants, tomatoes, carrots, radishes and papayas are useful in this condition. All fats and oils should be excluded from the diet for several weeks.

The patient should avoid all refined processed and canned foods sugar in any form spices and condiments strong tea and coffee fried foods all preparations cook¬ed in clarified butter oil or butter and all meats rich in fat. The use of salt should be restricted. The patient should also avoid all chemical additives in food and poisons in air water and environment as far as possible.
A warm water enema should be used during the treatment to cleanse the bowels. If constipation is chronic all steps should be taken for its eradication. Application of alternate compress to liver area followed by general wet sheet I ub will be beneficial. The morning dry friction and breathing and other exercises should form a regular daily feature of the treatment.

Treatment Chart for Cirrhosis of the Liver

A-DIET

I. Raw juice diet for three to five days. During this period a glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice diluted with water should be taken every two hours from 8 a.m. To 8p.m. And bowels cleansed daily with warm water enema.

II. An all-fruit diet for further three to five days.

III. Thereafter, adopt a well-balanced diet on the following lines:-

1. Upon arising:

A glass of lukewarm water with half a freshly squeezed lime and a teaspoon of honey.

2. Breakfast:

Fresh fruits, a glass of milk, sweetened with honey and some seeds or nuts, especially almonds or sesame seeds.

3. Lunch:

A bowl of freshly prepared steamed vegetables, two or three whole wheat wheat tortilla and a glass of buttermilk.

4. Mid-afternoon:

A glass of beet juice mixed with spinach juice

5. Dinner:

A large bowl of fresh green vegetable salad, with limejuice dressing, sprouted green gram beans. Follow it with a hot course, if desired.

6. Bedtime Snack:

A glass of milk or one apple.

NOTE:

The short juice fast followed by an all-fruit diet may be repeated at monthly intervals.

AVOID:

Tea, coffee, sugar, white flour and products made with them, all refined foods, fried foods and flesh foods, condiments, pickles, alcoholic beverages and smoking.

Restrict:

Salt Intake

Especially Beneficial:

Red beet, red beet juice, lemon, garlic and cucumber.

B - OTHER MEASURES

1. Fresh air breathing and other light exercises

2. Alternative hot and cold compresses to liver area, each for two or three minutes.


The liver is an integral part of the body, performs several important functions, like manufacturing vital nutrients and purifying the blood. Liver cirrhosis is a term that is used to describe scarring in the liver. This condition is usually a reaction to chronic liver damage. Fortunately, it is possible to treat this condition and most people control mild cases by following a Cirrhosis diet and making a few lifestyle changes. However, in order to treat the condition effectively, it is important to read the symptoms of liver cirrhosis correctly, diagnose the condition and understand its underlying causes. This is because many of the treatment options are aimed at addressing the underlying cause of this problem.

There are several factors that could lead to liver damage and cirrhosis in a person, such as:

• The excessive use of alcohol
• Body parasites
• Scarring or hardening of the bile ducts
• Cystic fibrosis
• Poor formation of bile ducts
• The inability of the body, to process the sugar that is present in milk
• Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
• Difficult in storing and releasing the energy required by the cells to function
• A buildup of excessive iron in the body
• Primary biliary cirrhosis (destruction of bile ducts)
• Wilson’s disease or the excessive buildup of copper
• The presence of another liver disease, that has been caused by the immune system
• The accumulation of fats in the liver

Cirrhosis Of The Liver Symptoms

Unfortunately, in most instances, the symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver do not make an appearance until the damage to the liver is extensive; there are no early symptoms of cirrhosis of the liver. However, some of the most common liver cirrhosis symptoms that can help identify the condition are easy bleeding, fatigue, accumulation of fluid in the abdominal area, bruising easily, reduction in appetite followed by weight loss, swelling in the legs and nausea. These signs and symptoms of liver cirrhosis should not be ignored or treated lightly. It is best to consult a doctor, as soon as the advance cirrhosis of the liver symptoms are evident.

Liver Cirrhosis Treatment

If cirrhosis is detected in the early stages, the damage can be controlled, by administering the appropriate treatment for the underlying cause. For example, if the cause of the problem is the excessive use of alcohol, then the patient will need to be put on a special cirrhosis diet, which totally restricts the consumption of alcohol. In case it is hepatitis that is causing the problem, then medication to control hepatitis will need to be prescribed. However, at the same time, liver cirrhosis treatment guidelines also state that the cirrhosis of the liver symptoms and pain should be controlled at the onset and not the end stage by the team that is administering the treatment. Some of the symptoms that can be controlled by treatment are:

• The buildup of fluid in the abdomen or the legs can be managed with the help of a low sodium diet, as well as water pills. If the buildup of fluid is excessive then surgical drainage procedure may be required.
• Cirrhosis of the liver may get infected, which is generally cured with the help of antibiotics.
• Bleeding is generally caused by certain medication, which increases the pressure in the veins. Surgery may be required, to place a stent, which holds open the portal vein, which reduces the pressure on the veins as well as the bleeding.
• At times, a doctor may recommend a liver transplant surgery, in case the liver is scarred very badly and cannot function properly any longer. In this procedure, the patient’s liver is removed and replaced with a new liver, that has been received from a donor.

Cirrhosis Diet Plan

In addition to undergoing liver cirrhosis treatment, most doctors recommend patients to follow a special cirrhosis diet. The most important factor of a cirrhosis diet is the complete elimination of alcohol. Other guidelines for setting up an effective cirrhosis diet are:

• Low sodium: Most cirrhosis diet recipes should be carefully monitored, so that the content of salt is low in them. Therefore, most prepackaged foods, processed foods and fast foods need to be strictly avoided by people who suffer from cirrhosis. It is best for cirrhosis patients to eat home cooked meals that have been flavored with herbs and other healthy spices instead.
• Low fat: A cirrhosis diet should contain limited amounts of fat, as most cirrhosis patients have a lot of difficulty in processing and digesting fat. The total number of calories in a cirrhosis diet menu should consist of no more than 25% of fat. A majority of these fats should come from omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in flaxseed, walnuts and salmon.
• Low sugar: When people suffer from liver cirrhosis, it affects their ability to process sugar properly. Therefore, the intake of sugar should be kept to the minimum and foods like chocolate, cakes, pastries, cookies and aerated drinks should be strictly avoided in a cirrhosis diet.
• Adequate protein: A diet that is meant for any liver problem should contain no more than an adequate amount of protein. This nutrient is important for maintaining and even repairing the tissues all over the body, especially the liver. Hence, the intake of protein is an important part of any liver cirrhosis diet plan. However, it has been seen that people who suffer from cirrhosis as well as other liver related diseases find it easier to absorb protein from plant based foods as well as dairy products, as compared to animal based foods. Hence, for effective cirrhosis diet therapy, the consumption of protein should come from nuts, beans, legumes, seeds, yogurt and high protein fruits. A cirrhosis diet protein plan should minimize the consumption of meat, poultry and eggs.

Cirrhosis can be a serious condition, which requires the attention of a medical expert. Therefore, it is best to involve a doctor or a dietician, when setting up a liver cirrhosis diet.

Cirrhosis diet

Cirrhosis of the liver is a medical condition which is characterised by the abnormal functioning and structure of the liver. Some of the causes of cirrhosis are excess fat, alcohol, certain medications, viruses, toxic metals and so on. Cirrhosis of the liver needs to be addressed immediately because the liver performs certain functions in the body such as providing the body with clotting proteins that are required for the blood to be able to clot and the liver also helps in regulating the supply of blood glucose as well as lipids or fats which the body requires to use as fuel. The cirrhosis symptoms are not observed in an individual until the liver has already been extensively damaged. Some of the cirrhosis symptoms are fatigues, yellowing of the skin, profuse nosebleeds, bruising easily, muscle wasting and weight loss, redness of the palms and so on.

The cirrhosis diet is an important part of the cirrhosis treatment and should ideally comprise of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains and cereals. On the degree of cirrhosis in some people, they may required to put on a cirrhosis diet that provides them with the necessary fat soluble vitamins and minerals which they may be deficient in. The cirrhosis diet should completely avoid alcohol and foods that have a very high fat content. This is because many a time cirrhosis tends to affect the ability of the body to digest fats because usually the body uses the bile produced by the liver to break down fats. However on account of cirrhosis of the liver, the supply and production of this bile may be adversely affected. Those diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver should strictly follow a cirrhosis diet to avoid complications of the liver such as hypoglycemia, ascites, encephalopathy and so on. In ascite, an unusually large amount of fluids tends to get accumulated in the liver and this condition is further aggravated by a diet that is high in salt.

In such cases, the patient will be put on a cirrhosis diet which is strictly salt free. Hence people should also foods that are pre packaged or processed on account of their high sodium content. Instead they should only try and eat fresh fruits, vegetables and meats that tend to be low in sodium. On the other hand in hypoglycemia, the patient is put on a cirrhosis diet that includes the consumption of small and frequent meals such as rice, pastas and breads so as to combat the problem of low blood sugar levels. A cirrhosis diet rich in carbohydrates is beneficial in such cases as the body is able to easily break down carbohydrates and derive energy from them. During cirrhosis, encephalopathy tends to occur when the body is unable to handle even regular amounts of protein. In such a case the patient may be put on a cirrhosis diet that contains small amounts of proteins that are primarily derived from plant sources as protein is required for maintenance, growth and energy.