How I Watch My Sugar Intake for Liver Health

I am Kimberly Nash, a sweet tooth addict.  Sounds so funny to admit, but it is the truth.

It goes back to my mom's pregnancy with me as she was the first kidney transplant patient in the U.S. and 5th in the world to give birth AFTER a kidney transplant. During her pregnancy, doctors were very strict with her not to gain too much weight. I'm not sure if many know this, but when a patient has a kidney transplant, the doctors create this little pouch in the front of the lower abdomen for the new kidney. (At least that is what they did for my mom in 1965). Things might have changed a bit since then, I am sure.

Because they had no idea what to expect with a "baby" and new transplanted kidney in the front, they restricted her diet. They did not want an enormous baby to be kicking and hurting the new kidney.

She told me that she was eating popsicles and jawbreakers all day long--because they warned her to not eat much but mostly because that was the only thing she could keep down.

Hmmm...wonder where my sweet tooth started. (I sit here smiling thinking of my little momma as I write this!)

Managing a healthy liver through diet

Today, I am an end-stage liver cirrhosis patient and struggling to manage a good healthy liver diet.

For those who are newly diagnosed with NASH/MASH aka fatty liver disease, your hepatologist or gastroenterologist might have warned you against eating lots of sugary things. (Hopefully, they also gave you more information about a good liver diet). Look for a future blog about what is recommended, diet wise, for a liver patient.

A high sugar diet can harm our livers and other organs by causing inflammation.¹ If the liver becomes more inflamed, per say, it is not working as it was designed to. (The livers main job is to filter toxins out of our bodies).

If we have a damaged liver, like I do, my liver is not filtering these toxins out of my body. In return, my body is collecting all the toxins and eventually settles in my brain. This causes severe brain fog or hepatic encephalopathy. This is a very serious and dangerous condition and if you are having any sort of brain fog like symptoms, please reach out to your doctor.  There is medication to help filter these toxins out.

Please don't get me wrong here, sugar is not the only thing that can hurt the liver and cause brain fog. There are many other things such as excessive red meat and alcohol (which your doctor should have told you to restrict.)¹

Learning about the different kinds of sweetenders

Let me also share, I am no doctor, and I have sought out advise from my liver doctor based on my own personal liver health as to what is best for my condition.

Because of my sweet tooth and candy addiction, I have to limit my consumption. If I go all out and full force and engorge on a sugary feast, I pay for it the very next day. I am groggy, can't think, slow moving, and feel sick.

Knowing this now, I try to eliminate a lot of sugary things. I was told by my liver doctor that the best sugars for a cirrhotic liver are as follows (of course, speak with your doctor to see what's best for you):

• Stevia - Which comes from the Stevia Reb Audiana Plant.
• Trehalose - Found in plants and insects.
• Cane Sugar - Which comes from Molasses in sugar which can give it a brown color to it. It is less processed like sugar from coconut palm tree sap and coconut sugar.

Reading labels

Reading labels has become a second nature to me when I am shopping. I really watch the number of grams of sugar in servings. This even includes things like ketchup, salad dressings, and sauces. Be extra careful around granola or granola bars. I've noticed those have tons of sugar, even though I usually think they sounds "healthy."

Through time, I have looked to satisfy my sweet tooth with fresh fruits. I also steer far away from artificial sweeteners like aspartame because I've read that the chemicals used in those products can be really dangerous to a liver patient.

Best word of advice: talk with your doctor or dietitian on ways you can substitute sugar out of your diet in a healthier way. Also, best to stay far away from diet soda, sugar-free things...lots of those items are using the artificial sweeteners mentioned above.

When in doubt, seek natural, and start reading the fine print of ingredients...You may be like me and need to start bringing your "readers" to the grocery store.