How Does Smoking Affect Your Liver?

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How Does Smoking Affect Your Liver?

If you smoke, quitting smoking is one of the great things you can do for your liver’s overall health, and free resources are available.

Although smoking primarily links with its effects on lung health, that isn’t the only way it can harm your health. Smoking can negatively affect your health in multiple ways. One way includes your liver’s health.

Cigarettes contain toxins that can cause permanent liver scarring, known as cirrhosis. Additionally, smoking can lead to nicotine deposits, which can trigger a buildup of lipids in your liver.

This buildup of lipids can result in a liver condition called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Keep reading to learn more about how smoking affects your liver.

How does smoking tobacco affect your liver’s health?

Smoking can negatively affect your entire body by harming your health in multiple ways. One way can include scarring your liver. Smoking increases the risk of liver conditions, such as NAFLD and cirrhosis, primarily because it increases the number of toxins in your body. Your liver’s function involves processing toxins.

When you smoke cigarettes, your liver can take on an increased workload. This can lead to liver toxicity and a condition called oxidative stress that occurs when liver cells experience exposure to toxins called free radicals.

Over time, this can block blood flow to your liver, leading to liver scarring and liver tissue thickening. Severe scarring and thickening of your liver are called cirrhosis.

Does smoking cannabis affect your liver?

Research into the effects of cannabis and all areas of health, including liver health, is new. But studiesTrusted Source show that smoking cannabis could increase the risk of some types of liver disease but decrease the risk of others.

For instance, researchers have linked cannabis to an increased risk of fatty liver, increased scarring, and immunosuppression. Conversely, researchTrusted Source on animal subjects has found that cannabis might help treat liver conditions such as hepatic encephalopathy.

Can smoking cause liver cancer?

Smoking links to an increased risk of liver cancer.

There are more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes that experts consider carcinogenic. Among them, chemicals such as nitrosamines, vinyl chloride, tar, and 4-aminobiphenyl can cause liver cancer. The risk of liver cancer can increase with the number of cigarettes a person smokes daily and the years a person has smoked.

Does chewing tobacco affect your liver?

Although it often links with oral health effects, chewing tobacco can also harm your liver.

Several of the toxic chemicals in cigarettes are also present in chewing tobacco. These toxins can increase stress on your liver and lead to conditions such as NAFLD and cirrhosis, no matter how you ingest them.

How do you cleanse your liver after smoking?

There are many popular methods of cleansing or “detoxing” your liver. A quick walk down grocery store aisles or an internet search will give you dozens of options. But these products and guides aren’t typically necessary.

If it’s healthy overall, your liver can heal and cleanse itself. Natural remedies usually can’t undo liver scarring, so no pills, juices, or other products can reverse it. Instead, letting your liver regenerate and get back to its typical level of functioning can be a good idea.

Some supplements and ingredients in common detox plans have general health and liver health benefits. They include supplements such as milk thistle and turmeric.