Dietary taboos for patients with hepatitis C

You must not drink alcohol, resolutely not eat foods and drugs that are clearly hepatotoxic, and do not take unproven liver-protecting folk remedies/health products without authorization. The rest of the dietary restrictions are adjusted according to the stage of the disease, and there is no need to overdo it.

I have been in the liver disease department for almost 10 years, and the most common pitfall case I have seen is drinking. Last year, there was a 28-year-old young man who was treated with DAA (direct antiviral drugs) for 3 months and was completely cured of hepatitis C. His liver function tests were all normal and he felt that he was completely fine. He drank two or three cups of craft beer every week for dinner with friends for 3 months. When he was re-examined, his transaminase soared to 217, and his liver B-ultrasound showed signs of mild fatty liver. There are actually some different opinions in the industry about whether you can drink a very small amount of alcohol: A few clinicians believe that patients who have been cured and whose liver function has been completely normal for more than one year will not cause major problems if they drink fruit wine or beer with an alcohol content of less than 5 degrees during the holidays. However, most doctors will still directly ask the patients not to drink alcohol - after all, the liver itself has been damaged by the hepatitis C virus, and even 1g of alcohol needs to be metabolized by the liver. There is no need to take risks for one sip. It is really not a mistake.

What is 100 times more harmful than eating an occasional meal of fried chicken are those hepatotoxic substances that everyone may not take seriously. The elderly at home like to stock up on bitter nuts, steamed buns and sweet potatoes with a little white hair, and leftovers that have been stored in the refrigerator for three or four days. Don’t be reluctant to throw them away. The aflatoxins and nitrites in these items are clear liver-damaging carcinogens. Ordinary people may metabolize them after eating them. The liver detoxification ability of patients with hepatitis C is inherently weaker. If they step on a thunderstorm, they may have to stay in the hospital for a week. There are also folk herbal medicines with unknown ingredients such as Panax notoginseng, Polygonum multiflorum and unknown ingredients. I once had an aunt in her 60s who had just been cured of hepatitis C. She heard from her neighbors that eating Polygonum multiflorum can blacken hair. She ground the powder at home and brewed it and drank it for half a month. She was sent to the emergency room for acute liver injury. Her transaminase level soared to over 400, and it took her more than half a month to live there before it came down.

As for the "Hepatitis C patients cannot eat seafood, greasy food, or animal offal" posted on the Internet, they are really all false taboos. I had a patient before who went to Qingdao for half a month every year after he was cured. He ate steamed shrimps and crabs every day. His liver function and liver elasticity were all normal when he was reviewed every year. Of course, it depends on the situation: if your hepatitis C is still in the active stage, transaminases are elevated, and you have symptoms of jaundice, you should avoid eating fatty meats and fried foods to reduce the burden on your liver. ； But if you have completed antiviral treatment and your liver function has been stable within the normal range for six months, you can eat normally without losing your appetite every day. By the way, there is also the question that everyone often asks, "Is it reliable to eat liver to replenish the liver?" Different doctors have different opinions: some doctors think that animal liver has high cholesterol and may have residual metabolic toxins, so it is not recommended to eat it. ； Some doctors believe that liver that has passed quarantine and been thoroughly cooked has high iron and vitamin A content. It is perfectly fine to eat it once or twice a month, with no more than one or two each time. My own suggestion is that if you don’t have high blood fat or gout problems, you can eat whatever you want without putting too much psychological burden on it.

Some people also ask me if I can take liver-protecting health products, such as milk thistle, which is very popular recently? There is currently no unified conclusion in the academic community. Some studies believe that it can assist antioxidants and reduce the burden on the liver. Others believe that these ingredients require liver metabolism and will cause trouble to the liver. There are even many unqualified health products that illegally add liver-damaging ingredients. My experience is that if you really want to eat it, show the ingredient list to your attending doctor first and make sure it is OK before eating it. Don’t just buy a bunch of it and eat it as a meal. Spending money is a trivial matter, but damaging your liver is a big problem.

To be honest, hepatitis C is now a completely curable disease. More than 95% of patients can completely eliminate the virus by taking medicine for 3 months. There are really not so many dietary rules. There is no need to count calories and pick and choose from the food list every day. Instead, it will make yourself extremely anxious. A weakened immunity is really bad for the condition. The core thing is to remember not to touch those three red lines, review regularly, and do whatever feels comfortable.