My encouraging experience lowering my ... - British Liver Trust

British Liver Trust

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My encouraging experience lowering my liver enzyme levels in 20 days.

airlegs profile image
18 Replies

I just received my test results after 20 days of abstaining from alcohol and following a diet of ONLY liver beneficial foods and probiotics.

AST was 125, it’s now 32 (normal)

ALT was 62, it’s now 44 (normal)

GGT was 468, it’s now 110 (still above)

BILIRUBIN TOTAL was 0,9, now 0,3 (normal)

PANCREAS levels normal

I will continue with this regimen for another 2 weeks and retest hoping to drop the GGT another 62 points.

I am very pleased with the progress in such a short amount of time. 20 days! I should add that I continued to take the various meds I need to take and smoked cigarettes during these 20 days. Quitting smoking is my next focus. One thing at a time!

If anyone wants more info about what specifically I ate and drank, I’d be happy to share.

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airlegs
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18 Replies

I am on plant based diet. But would love to hear your plan. And by the way great news😘. Did you have damage at all?

airlegs profile image
airlegs in reply to

Thank you! I added a long post detailing the foods I ate. I believe my liver was injured but I think I have turned that around. My Dr. may order a scan, not sure yet. I see her next week.

erica1960 profile image
erica1960

That is really great news, may ai ask about your plan in a little more detail please? I stopped drinking on 30 April, and have lost 17 lbs (low carb), so am hoping there will be similarly good signs in my next bloods. Keep it up, that's great progress x

airlegs profile image
airlegs in reply toerica1960

Thank you! I added a long post with details. Good luck to you and congrats! 17 pounds is a lot!

pigeonCl-HU profile image
pigeonCl-HU

Great news for you airlegs, now you are really entitled to be 'walking on air', such well deserved result.

It would be helpful and interesting if you could specifically share what you ate and drank....

Quitting smoking is a big one, but it is doable, and you shall succeed.

pigeon.

airlegs profile image
airlegs in reply topigeonCl-HU

Hi Pigeon! Thank you. I added a long post/reply detailing everything.

Wow Airleg😁

You deserve my invisable hug and congratulations for reducing your stats so much in 20 days!

Well done and good luck on the smoking thing! Please keep us updated

Love Trish x

Well done on the alcohol front. Life without alcohol is so much better, and gets even better over time. I'm not sure about the probiotics as you don't need these and are a waste of time and money. They can end up doing more harm than good.

But once again, well done.

airlegs profile image
airlegs

Hi all! As requested by Nidia, Erica and Pigeon, here are the details:

Beverages per day:

4 liters of flat water throughout the day/night.

10 cups of tea (green, chamomile or mint) with 1/4 squeezed lemon per cup throughout the day. Sometimes I substitute 1/4 grapefruit squeezed for the lemon juice.

COFFEE (note, I was never a coffee drinker previously). 4 regular nespressos all before 15:00, 6 decaf nespressos throughout day/evening. Nothing added.

750 ml of FRESH juice cut with low sodium sparkling water 50/50 ratio throughout the day. Juices included kale and pineapple or beet/carrot/orange. This amounted to about 10 glasses per day. Lots of ice cubes too.

FOOD:

Breakfast-1 banana and 5 walnut halves. Coffee, juice. I don’t have a big appetite in the morning.

Snack-1 cup of steamed or roasted beets.

Lunch-200 grams of low-fat cottage cheese mixed with 1 Tbsp raw chia seeds and black pepper and 100 grams of rocket, watercress or spinach raw and chopped (usually 3/4 of a bag). Mixed all together. It’s actually delicious, my teenage son even loves it.

Snack-baby carrots, celery with tzatziki (nonfat plain greek yogurt with dill, lots of garlic, cucumbers and black pepper)-130 grams.

Snack, 1 cup beets with 100 grams of low-fat cottage cheese and 5 walnut halves. OR 1/2 avocado topped with 2 tablespoons of nonfat, plain greek yogurt, chopped cilantro and black pepper. OR 150 grams of fresh fruit salad (papaya, mango, pineapple, red grapes, strawberries) with 100 grams of low-fat cottage cheese.

Dinner-sautéed spinach 150 grams with lots of garlic, drizzle of olive oil and juice of one lemon. 1 cup of Indian style chickpeas (cook 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 chopped onion, 10 garlic cloves minced, 3 tbsp minced fresh ginger, 2 cans chopped tomatoes, cumin, cilantro powder, garam masala, black pepper, 250 grams drained and rinsed chickpeas). Takes 30 minutes to make and lasts for days. I cover it in fresh chopped cilantro. 1 cup steamed broccoli with black pepper. Roasted asparagus spears (6) covered in chopped garlic, drizzle of olive oil, lots of lemon juice, black pepper. 50 grams of rocket. 130 grams nonfat plain greek yogurt.

Every 2 days I would eat 1 pounded chicken breast marinated in nonfat plain greek yogurt, turmeric, sweet paprika, chopped ginger, lots of chopped garlic, cumin, black pepper. Marinated for 2-3 hours, cooked in roasting pan for 20 minutes or until done, no oil needed.

Dessert-130g of nonfat greek yogurt mixed with 1tbsp of raw chia seeds, 5 walnut halves, 10 raspberries, 15 blueberries, 1/2 banana.

I followed this diet 100% and found it to be a lot of food! Much more than what I normally eat. Also it involves very little cooking.

I never added salt to anything. I did not have any bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. I felt really good, more energy and was very “regular “ in the bathroom.

After week 1, I started taking milk thistle and curcuma supplements.

Didn’t really lose or gain weight. I didn’t exercise very much because I read that moderate to heavy exercise can sometimes raise enzyme levels. I will return to the gym next week, 4 times per week.

I haven’t had any alcohol cravings. I also haven’t put myself in social situations where that temptation could surface. I have been more focused, more productive, more positive, sleeping better and physically feeling great. I was feeling a lot of anxiety about the test results but now I feel better. Hope to get the ggt normalized very soon.

in reply toairlegs

Oh my Airlegs!

I've read a lot of things on this forum but I take my hat off to you, firstly for typing in depth how you've achieved to reduce your stats!

Secondly, do you do all the food shopping 😁😁😁 plus all the preparing and cooking/daily menu's ? I'm asking as I like to cook as a hobby and you've put alot of thought into everything.

All I can say is CONGRATULATIONS as you deserve one of these 🏆 for your speedy achievement

Regards Trish

airlegs profile image
airlegs in reply to

Slaines! Thank you so much for your kind words. I was hoping to give encouragement to people on this group. I realize everyone is different but for me, stopping the daily wine and eating liver beneficial foods made a huge difference in a very short time.

Yes, I do all of the shopping, prep and cooking (and cleaning). I go to the market daily to get everything fresh. On top of this, I have to cook totally different foods for my son and husband. I basically live in the kitchen! I never eat out at restaurants (only on vacations) and I strive to provide the most healthy and diverse foods for my family. It’s a lot of work but well worth it. My teenager is growing faster than a weed!

in reply toairlegs

Great food plan. Thank you 💕

pigeonCl-HU profile image
pigeonCl-HU in reply toairlegs

airlegs, thank you for your detailed reply.

Tell you the truth, I just can't believe the amount of LIQUIDS per day....Jesus that's a lot!

But as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

You've been there, done that, got the t-shirt to prove it: Lab results do not lie.

.....milk thistle, ahhhh me old friend....

Take care now,

pigeon.

airlegs profile image
airlegs in reply topigeonCl-HU

Truth be told, I have always been a liquid addict! I used to drink 5-7 liters of just water per day. I always have a drink next to me everywhere I go. I always get an aisle seat when on an airplane because I visit the bathroom often! It’s just me. Only now it’s me with more variety of liquids and no vino. My glucose and urea levels have always been excellent.

Darsmum100 profile image
Darsmum100

Well done! I bet that's made you feel really good and given you the impetus to carry on. Once you start to feel do much healthier you never want to look back.

airlegs profile image
airlegs

*Update*

I did another blood test and I am very happy to report that my liver enzymes have returned to normal after 34 days of abstaining from alcohol and following a strict liver beneficial diet, no cheating!

AST is 19, was 125

ALT is 21, was 62

GGT is 38, was 468

Thanks to everyone on this group for your support, information and for sharing your stories. This experience has been sobering. I wish you all health, strength and happiness.😘

alfredthegreat profile image
alfredthegreat

That's great news Airlegs. Very well done :-) :-)

Congratulations Airlegs. And thank you so much for the kind and generous gesture of posting this food information. Just goes to show you the power of healthy eating. I am doing the same and have not had alcohol in almost 7 months. Cheers to your continued good health.

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