Love Your Liver!

Environmental pollution may be contributing to the growing problem of liver disease in U.S. adults, according to a new U.S. study.

Matthew Cave of the University of Louisville and colleagues studied the role of environmental pollutants in liver disease in 4,500 people who take part in the so-called 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

They examined chronic low-level exposure to 111 common pollutants including lead, mercury, PCBs and pesticides, and their association with otherwise unexplained liver disease in adults.

These pollutants, the researchers said, were detectable in 60 percent or more of the study subjects.

"Our study found that greater than one in three U.S. adults had liver disease, even after excluding those with traditional risk factors such as alcoholism and viral hepatitis," Cave said in a statement.

"Our study shows that some of these cases may be attributable to environmental pollution, even after adjusting for obesity, which is another major risk factor for liver disease," he said.

Cave is presenting his findings this weekend at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Chicago, the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

Given the load our poor liver has to contend with, I consider liver support supplements to be more important than ever. My favorites are milk thistle (400-900mg daily), selenium (200-400mcg daily) and alpha lipoic acid (100-600 mg daily), which I personally take every day. A great formula for general use is Vital Nutrients Liver Support which contains herbs like dandelion root, artichoke leaf extract and curcumin known to be very liver-friendly. Freshly made vegetable juices- especially with beet and beet greens- are also great for that poor liver.