Decaf tea and coffee

[Seska1]

Hi ,my mum was diagnosed with NAFLD around march time after initially going into hospital with a chest infection, it's really knocked our family for six as we had no idea, though in hindsight she had some symptoms we never realised, anyway I have completely changed our diet, lots more fruit and veg eating little and often but I'm struggling to find any information on whether tea and coffee is ok to have ,one Dr says yes it's ok to drink but another says you should only drink de caff tea and coffee .Can people with liver problems have access to a dietician? Any help from this amazing group would be much appreciated!

[AyrshireK]

The British Liver Trust has lots of great information about NAFLD at :- britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

They also have a downloadable leaflet about how to treat NAFLD with healthy diet and exercise which may also help with good advise :- britishlivertrust.org.uk/do...

Also, there is evidence that coffee can indeed be beneficial with liver disease (certainly hubbies dietician said he should add some to his intake some years ago). Again the BLT has a raft of information on that at :- britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Hope that information is all of use.

Katie

[Seska1 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you AyrshireK I have also read that coffee is beneficial so I really don't understand why one Dr said no, he was only a GP { not her hepatologist} Thank you for the link but it still didn't give me an answer but i did find it very helpful, I'll keep looking!

[AyrshireK in reply to Seska1]

Did you read through all the different points on the coffee and liver disease page? It is quite detailed about the benefits of coffee. Read through and open up all the sections in the entitled Coffee FAQ's.

[Benwillfred]

I was recommended to drink caffinated coffee by my consultant as its good for the liver.

[Buddythezhu]

coffee can be beneficial to the liver

[Greeneyesgirlx]

hi there iv recently got diagnosed with nafld and im struggling what to eat and drink atm iv changed my diet in last 6 weeks and started eating more fruit veg chicken fish instead of crisps rice cakes instead of sweets iv switched fir Greek yoghurt I began drinking water and I searched up black coffee is the best to have and herbal drinks like green tea peppermint tea and things I hope that helped there’s help on her through British liver trust there’s links or a number to a nurse you can speak too

[Seska1 in reply to Greeneyesgirlx]

That's great , thank you for your reply

[Oldbits]

Hi, yes hubbie was told 3 plus cups of coffee a day by 2 different consultants. So he tends to drink strong coffee all morning. Even since he became compensated, at his last appointment consultant said carry on drinking the coffee. There is info on coffee on the liver trust web site. Maybe the gp was thinking about the milky coffees? Cappuccino etc... probably not a good idea for your mum. I have no idea about decaf. You can ask for referral to a dietician, but there is a waiting list. It sounds as if you're doing all right with the diet. Avoid heavily processed foods and ready meals and cook from scratch. We found making veg soups (low/no salt, use herbs to flavour instead) this time of year. As they are easy to eat when off your food and can be frozen.

[AnxiousPete in reply to Oldbits]

If skimmed milk is used it should be fine and decaff or caffeinated makes no differrnce to the impact on the liver. The beneficial action on the liver is not fully understood but not believed to be caffeine-related.

[Oldbits in reply to AnxiousPete]

Thank you 😊

[Seska1 in reply to Oldbits]

Thanks for responding, she does like a milky coffee in the evening but I'm going to have to be strict now I've read your reply! She does have trouble sleeping so that could be why, It's all a bit of a minefield figuring out what she can eat or drink, not that she had a bad diet to start with, just tweaking meals a bit. Thank you

[Oldbits in reply to Seska1]

As anxious pete said maybe skimmed milk(it's the fat content i was thinking of) but the liver loves protein to help it heal. It stops it stealing it from your muscles. It is a bit of a minefield, as you say. We only had to tweak our meals too. Change turkey mince in for beef and lamb, that was an easy one. We hardly had salt. We Stopped the takeaways and pizza's we had once week but back on that once a month now🙂 We didn't get a dietician when we asked as they said our diet was ok. Good luck x

[Seska1 in reply to Oldbits]

I have tried using skimmed milk in other things but she hates the "white water " as she calls it, lol, we very rarely have takeaways except for chicken kebabs, we spend ages in the supermarket reading the traffic light labels which are really helpful.

[Oldbits in reply to Seska1]

I know what she means 😀 I've even tried to foam it up for coffee..... spoiler...it doesnt. We found that thai has the least additional salt, you still have to have a treat. (Sorry, I'm assuming she isn't decompensated because then you have to be very careful and I hope that never happens) happy shopping x

[AyrshireK]

This is the information from the BLT page on Coffee and the Liver britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Scroll down for answers to common questions about coffee and your liver.

Lots of studies have looked at coffee and liver health. Overall these found that drinking coffee is likely to be good for your liver.

There is good evidence that drinking coffee can reduce your risk of a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

There is also some evidence that drinking coffee can reduce your risk of liver damage like scarring and cirrhosis.

Beneficial effects have been found for filter, espresso, and instant coffee.

But drinking coffee cannot always prevent liver disease. Even if you drink a lot of coffee, it is important to reduce alcohol, eat a healthy balanced diet and keep active.

It should be safe for you to drink coffee if you have a liver condition.

There is some evidence that it can slow down the progress of liver disease in some people.

Some research found that people were less likely to die of liver disease or to develop cirrhosis if they drank coffee.

But more research is needed, and coffee is not enough on its own. It is important to follow advice from your doctor.

If you have been advised to cut down on coffee or caffeine because of another medical condition, speak to your doctor.

Previous studies have found that people who drink 3 to 4 cups of coffee each day have less risk of liver disease than people who do not drink coffee.

But more research is needed to help us understand how much coffee you need to drink to make a difference. And whether that could affect your health in other ways.

It is not yet clear how coffee helps prevent liver disease. Or how coffee interacts with the different causes of liver disease, like alcohol and viral hepatitis. It might also work differently from person to person.

There are lots of different things in coffee and there has not been much research into how they all affect your liver. It is thought that some of them, including caffeine, are antioxidants which can help protect against damage.

But not everyone who drinks coffee is protected from liver disease. There are probably some individual differences that affect how coffee works. These could be linked to lots of things including the genes you inherit from your parents and your gut microbiome (the good bacteria in your digestive system). As well as what you eat and drink, if you smoke, and how active you are.

There have not been as many studies into decaffeinated coffee. There seems to be some evidence that it can be helpful but more research is needed.

Caffeine might be one of the reasons why coffee can help your liver. But there are lots of other things in coffee that could also be involved.

Research into other caffeinated drinks has had mixed results so it is hard to tell for sure.

Drinking green tea in normal amounts is safe. But green tea supplements can be dangerous for your liver, especially if you already have a liver condition. You can find out more about drug induced liver injury here.

Drinking coffee should be safe for most people. If you are pregnant or have a heart condition you should talk to your doctor or midwife about how much coffee is safe for you.

Some people find that drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening can make it hard to sleep at night.

Having lots of fat or sugar is bad for your liver, even if it comes with a coffee. So do not regularly drink coffee with sugar, syrups or cream in it.

[Seska1 in reply to AyrshireK]

I found the information I was looking for now, I don't think I was looking in the right place, thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction!