#1 Absolute Worst Way You Destroy Your Liver (It's Not Food Or Alcohol)

Summary

In this enlightening video, Dr. Sten Ekberg discusses the number one way you destroy your liver, focusing on lifestyle choices beyond the usual suspects of food and alcohol. Highlighting the liver’s essential functions, Ekberg warns against the accumulation of toxins from processed foods, medications, and environmental pollutants. Notably, he emphasizes that common over-the-counter medications, particularly those containing acetaminophen like Tylenol, can severely damage the liver if not used cautiously. He stresses the importance of understanding and minimizing these modern-day stressors to protect liver health and overall well-being.

Highlights

• Dr. Ekberg highlights how the liver literally spells 'live'—a sign of its critical role in your health! 🧠
• Every year, liver-related illnesses take a staggering toll worldwide. 🌍
• Viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, and lifestyle diseases are major liver fail players. ⚡
• Awareness about sugar's fructose and modern lifestyles' drug stresses is vital. 🍭💊
• Processed omega-6 oils and lifestyle diseases can wreck your liver if unchecked. 🌿
• Acetaminophen in many meds is a silent liver killer—caution is key! 💥
• A shocking fact: too much acetaminophen can destroy half your liver in a week! 😱

Key Takeaways

• Your liver's name is a clue to its importance—take care of it if you want to 'live'! 🏥
• Liver failure claims thousands of lives yearly; don't underestimate its risks. 📉
• Lifestyle diseases like Type 2 diabetes can be managed with better choices. 🍏
• It's not just alcohol—fructose and drug abuse are big liver stressors too. 🍬💊
• Beware of over-the-counter meds with acetaminophen; they're sneaky liver foes. ⚠️
• The liver is a detox powerhouse, managing 500+ chemical reactions to keep you healthy. 🔄
• Understanding 'body burden' helps grasp how toxins accumulate and harm the liver. 🧩

Overview

Hey Health Champions! Dr. Sten Ekberg dives into some hard truths about liver health. Forget the usual suspects like alcohol for a minute; your liver faces threats from everyday choices. Did you know that the liver's first four letters spell 'live'? It's more than a linguistic coincidence; taking care of your liver is synonymous with longevity.

Throughout the video, Dr. Ekberg gets real about the multiple stressors your liver contends with daily. From the sneaky dangers of processed sugars and seed oils to hidden threats found in over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen, there's a lot more than alcohol to watch out for. He breaks down how these elements lead to cumulative 'body burden,' potentially pushing the liver to its breaking point.

What's eye-opening here is the role modern additives and lifestyle diseases play in liver health. Dr. Ekberg explains how metabolic waste and natural hormones aren't new to the liver, but modern chemicals are. Our bodies weren't designed for the onslaught of pollutants and pharmaceuticals, and understanding this is key to protecting our liver and overall health.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview of Liver Health In this chapter, the importance of liver health is highlighted. It begins with an intriguing fact about the word 'liver' containing the word 'live,' emphasizing the critical role the liver plays in maintaining life. The chapter discusses how many people unknowingly damage their liver daily. Additionally, it presents a staggering statistic that liver disease and acute liver failure result in 50,000 deaths annually in the United States, underscoring the prevalence and severity of liver-related health issues.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Statistics on Liver Failure This chapter provides statistical insights into liver failure, highlighting its global impact. Each year, a significant number of individuals worldwide succumb to acute liver failure. The chapter specifically notes that approximately 2 million people are affected annually. It identifies viral hepatitis as a contributing factor to liver failure, describing it as a viral infection that leads to chronic inflammation of the liver, causing substantial stress on the organ.
• 01:00 - 02:30: Causes of Liver Failure: Diseases and Lifestyle Liver failure can be caused by a variety of diseases and lifestyle factors. One such condition is the scarring of the bile ducts, which impedes liver function. Autoimmune hepatitis, another contributing factor, is an autoimmune disease that results in liver inflammation. Besides viral infections, parasitic infections can also lead to liver failure. Additionally, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which are metabolic diseases, can clog the liver, cause inflammation, and are major contributors to liver-related health issues.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Impact of Lifestyle Choices on Liver Health The chapter discusses how lifestyle choices can significantly impact liver health. It explains that while some liver-related conditions may occur due to factors beyond an individual's control, such as viral hepatitis or autoimmune diseases, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can play a crucial role in promoting liver health. Key lifestyle strategies include consuming nutritious foods, minimizing stress, and generally taking good care of oneself.
• 04:00 - 06:00: Fructose, Drug Abuse, and Seed Oils The chapter discusses the management of certain health conditions, specifically focusing on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It emphasizes the role of individual actions in managing these diseases, despite the presence of some genetic predispositions that affect a small percentage of people. The chapter suggests that individuals have significant control over their health outcomes in relation to these diseases, although some aspects, like genetic factors, cannot be entirely avoided.
• 06:00 - 08:00: Effects of Processed Oils and Smoking The chapter titled 'Effects of Processed Oils and Smoking' primarily focuses on the relationship between lifestyle choices and type 2 diabetes. It emphasizes the significant impact that lifestyle, particularly the consumption of processed oils and smoking, can have on one's health. The chapter suggests that these are modifiable lifestyle factors, meaning individuals have the agency to change these habits. Moreover, it draws a parallel with alcohol abuse, which historically has been a dominant cause of liver cirrhosis and failure. However, in contemporary times, it is now just one of multiple contributing factors, indicating a broader spectrum of lifestyle-related health issues. The discussion encourages active intervention in lifestyle choices to mitigate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• 08:00 - 10:30: Medication and Liver Failure The chapter discusses the impact of fructose on liver health. It explains that common sugars, such as table sugar and derivatives like syrup or agave, contain a high percentage of fructose, around 50%, which is distinctly different from other carbohydrates found in foods like rice or bread. Although these foods are not ideal, the text emphasizes that the real issue lies with fructose. Additionally, the chapter addresses the significant risk of liver damage through heavy drug use.
• 10:30 - 13:00: Functions of the Liver The chapter discusses the stress on the liver caused by foreign substances that need to be biotransformed, processed, and detoxified by it. Special attention is given to processed omega-6 seed oils found in common vegetable oils like corn oil, soybean oil, and safflower oil, highlighting the liver's role in handling these substances.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Body Burden and Accumulated Toxins This chapter discusses the high consumption of soybean oil in the United States, which amounts to over 40 liters per person per year. The oil is highly processed and rich in omega-6 fatty acids, leading to an imbalance in the body's fatty acid ratio. This imbalance can cause inflammation, affecting the liver and potentially contributing to lifestyle-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes. The chapter emphasizes considering these health issues as related to lifestyle choices.
• 15:00 - 18:00: Impact and Risks of Acetaminophen The chapter underscores the significance of understanding the extent of control individuals have over certain disease states, emphasizing that many are predominantly influenced by lifestyle choices. It highlights the detrimental effects of smoking, noting how it deprives the body of oxygen. Smoking blocks the red blood cells from carrying oxygen efficiently to the cells, which hampers oxygen utilization throughout the body, thereby interfering with cellular functions.
• 18:00 - 21:00: Combination Effects and Liver Health Risks This chapter emphasizes the importance of medication awareness in relation to liver health. It highlights a common misconception that only prescription medications pose a risk to liver health, due to their well-documented side effects. In contrast, there is often a perception that over-the-counter (OTC) medications are safe and risk-free. The chapter aims to draw attention to these myths and educate the audience on the broader spectrum of medications that can impact liver function.
• 21:00 - 25:00: Regeneration of the Liver The chapter "Regeneration of the Liver" explores the functions and importance of the liver. It emphasizes the role of the liver in digestion, specifically its production of bile to aid in the breakdown of fats. Additionally, the chapter touches upon the concept of biotransformation, hinting at its significance in understanding liver failure and the importance of monitoring liver health.
• 25:00 - 28:30: Long-term Health and Lifestyle Changes The chapter titled 'Long-term Health and Lifestyle Changes' discusses the body's process of detoxification and biotransformation. It explains how the body takes potentially harmful compounds and converts them into water-soluble forms to safely eliminate them. This process is crucial for survival and involves dealing with both internal toxins, which are naturally produced by the body's metabolism, and external toxins such as pesticides and environmental pollutants.

#1 Absolute Worst Way You Destroy Your Liver (It's Not Food Or Alcohol) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Hello Health Champions. Today we're going to  talk about the number one way that you destroy   your liver every day and a lot of people don't  know that they're doing it and if you look at   the first four letters in the word liver it spells  out live so this really is an organ that you want   to pay attention to and take good care of if you  want to live. And liver disease and acute liver   failure causes a number of fatalities every year  in the United United States it's 50,000 people a
• 00:30 - 01:00 year die from acute liver failure and around  the world it's 2 million people now when we   talk about the causes there are some diseases  that can cause or contribute to liver failure   so viral hepatitis for example it's an viral  infection of the liver that causes a chronic   inflammation that's what the word itis means  inflammation and this is a huge stress huge
• 01:00 - 01:30 burden on the liver other diseases that can cause  this are scarring of the bile ducts you could have   autoimmune hepatitis again an autoimmune disease  that attacks the liver and causes inflammation   and besides viral infections you could also  have parasitic infections and of course no   list is complete without cardiovascular disease  and type 2 diabetes it's a metabolic disease that   clogs up the liver that causes inflammation and  contributes to most kinds of disease actually now
• 01:30 - 02:00 some of these you're sort of mostly unlucky if  you get exposed to it if you're in a unfortunate   circumstances where you get some viral hepatitis  or some autoimmune disease now you can do a lot in   terms of Lifestyle just eating good food reducing  stress taking the best care of yourself and these
• 02:00 - 02:30 may not go away but you will manage them much  much better but then there are others and we'll   talk a little bit more later about cardiovascular  disease and type 2 diabetes where this is almost   entirely up to you that you can do a lot about  this whereas with cardiovascular disease there   are some genetic factors that predispose you for a  small percentage of people for most people people
• 02:30 - 03:00 it is entirely about lifestyle and type 2 diabetes  is entirely about lifestyle so the other factors   we want to talk about obviously our lifestyle  choices so these are further causes but these   are something that you can do a lot about alcohol  abuse used to be by far it used to be almost the   only thing that caused cirrhosis of the liver and  liver failure today it is just one among many so
• 03:00 - 03:30 we have sugar for example and in the sugar there  is the fructose component when we're talking about   uh white crystal sugar table sugar or any of the  derivatives of syrup or agave or corn syrup etc.   50% of that is fructose which is very different  from rice or bread not that those are great but   the really devastating component is the fructose  another big factor is drug abuse heavy drug use
• 03:30 - 04:00 is tremendously stressful on the liver because  anything foreign that you put into the body has   to be biotransformed it has to be changed and  processed and detoxified by the liver another   one that is getting more and more attention is  processed omega-6 seed oils the things we eat   and consume as vegetable oils like corn oil and  soybean oil and safflower oil etc. when we have
• 04:00 - 04:30 a very large amount of oil which soybean oil we  consume over 40 liters per year per person in the   United States that's an enormous amount when we  eat a lot of these and they're highly processed   and they're high in omega-6 now we unbalance the  ratio of fatty acids in the body we put the body   in inflammatory State and again this affects the  liver and I want to put cardiovascular disease and   type two diabetes on here again under lifestyle  choices even though we often consider them as
• 04:30 - 05:00 diseases disease States we want to understand  how much control we have over these that they're   almost purely lifestyle choices another thing you  want to avoid obviously is smoking because it robs   the body of oxygen it blocks the red blood cells  that carry oxygen to all the cells and in doing   that it reduces the utilization of oxygen in every  cell of the body and therefore it interferes with
• 05:00 - 05:30 the function of every cell in the body and then I  want to bring a lot of attention to medication as   causes of liver failure because a lot of people  think that the only ones you have to be careful   with are the prescription medication that they  are more safeguarded because they have more side   effects and therefore they think that the over  the counter the OTC that there's nothing really
• 05:30 - 06:00 to worry about if they sell them everywhere how  bad can it be and that's something that we really   need to watch for now to really understand what  causes liver failure we need to also understand   what does the liver do what's its daily job so  it participates in digestion with making bile   to emulsify and break down fats and then the main  thing that people think about is biotransformation
• 06:00 - 06:30 or detox it takes some really harmful compounds  and it attaches things to them in several   different steps to make them water soluble and  less harmful so we can flush them out and this bio   transformation is super important you would not  live many hours or many days if this didn't happen   and there's internal and there are external toxins  so some of them are part just of a natural form of   metabolism but then we have to add to that all of  the pesticides and the environmental pollutants
• 06:30 - 07:00 that we've added in the least last several decades  it also breaks down cholesterol it regulates   cholesterol it gets rid of old bad cholesterol  and it makes new cholesterol any hormone that your   body produces the liver has to break that down and  get rid of it because everything is supposed to   exist exist and do its thing for a specific time  it also has to break down all the metabolic waste
• 07:00 - 07:30 that we generate through our chemical processes  in the body as well as from all the drugs and   other chemicals that we add Del liver is also  the main organ that breaks down and processes   and metabolizes all the macronutrients that you  eat the fat the protein and the carbohydrates it   also serves as a reservoir are for glycogen to  replenish blood sugar between meals and in doing
• 07:30 - 08:00 that it helps to balance out our fuel and energy  levels so all in all the liver performs all of   this and there's a total of over 500 different  chemical reactions that the liver is responsible   for and here's the key thing that we need to  understand about that so often in medicine and   in science we try to isolate things and we look  at one specific thing at a time one process one
• 08:00 - 08:30 pathway as if it happened in isolation but that  is the key to understand that the liver does   all of this but it doesn't do one at a time it  does all of this all the time so I want to show   you one of the most helpful concept that I have  seen I didn't come up with this but I've used it   for years and years in explaining health and is  called body burden that when you have different
• 08:30 - 09:00 things going on they accumulate they pile on top  of each other so we have down at the bottom is   the metabolic waste that's unavoidable once you  metabolize food and things from the environment   you put things in on one end different things come  out on the other end you make tissues etc. that   produces waste so there's no way around that and  the liver has to do do that then on top of that
• 09:00 - 09:30 we have the hormones that the body produces that  have to be broken down I call them Endo hormones   for endogenous hormones coming from the inside but  then now we have to add to that EXO hormones or   exogenous things that are added from the outside  in animal feed and we get it through drinking   water etc. and then the body has to break down all  the Environmental toxins whether it's industrial
• 09:30 - 10:00 pollution and heavy metals or something that we  spray on Foods or household cleaners it is all   foreign chemicals that the body has to get rid  of and the liver is the one who does it alcohol   of course is a burden it is something relatively  natural in very small amounts but large amounts   frequently now become a huge burden on the liver  and like we talked about fructose the component of
• 10:00 - 10:30 sugar that only the liver can metabolize becomes  a huge burden so as these things accumulate and   the liver only has so much capacity only so much  resources only so many cells only so much ATP or   cellular energy available we eventually get to a  threshold and the liver can work up to this point
• 10:30 - 11:00 but if we exceed that now we're in trouble now  the liver falls behind and some of the cells can   actually get damaged and now we can have liver  failure so now if we ADD medication if we take   something on top now that could push us over the  threshold over the limit but then we also have to   realize that not everyone is the same that this  could be a 30-year-old young person what if we're
• 11:00 - 11:30 a little older what if we have other comorbidities  what if we have a less favorable genetic makeup   then maybe our 100% would fall a lot lower and  now we see these pieces it doesn't take nearly   as many pieces to reach that threshold and then if  we start adding more now we're going to reach that   liver failure or that liver disease or compromise  much sooner and the reason that I put medication
• 11:30 - 12:00 at the top here is not that it's the only cause  because everything here contributes and I'm not   claiming that these would be to scale that they  would be proportional to their size or anything   like that they're purely examples of different  things that the body have to deal with to give   you an idea but if we're going to talk about the  number one cause of liver failure then it is very
• 12:00 - 12:30 very often quoted as being acetaminophen and that  is of course the ingredient in Tylenol so we know   that acetaminophen is a problem for the liver  and we know that Tylenol is often called out   to be the number one cause of liver failure so a  lot of people would avoid that but what a lot of   people don't realize is that there's many many  things that contain acetaminophen like NyQuil
• 12:30 - 13:00 DayQuil are some examples Excedrin, Alka Seltzer  plus and Mucinex as well as Robitussin and these   are just some examples so you may be very cautious  about Tylenol you might try to take just when it's   absolutely necessary but then you may not think  about the others or you might take one of them   and not realize that when you combine it with  something else now you're adding it a cumulates
• 13:00 - 13:30 now what about the others if they don't contain  acetaminophen well there is ibuprofen is another   active ingredient which we find in Advil and  in dozens of other things we have a Naproxen   which we find in Aleve and then there's good old  aspirin and all of these are very much associated
• 13:30 - 14:00 with stomach distress causing leaky gut stomach  inflammation all sorts of upset intestinal tract   but just because they're Associated mostly with  stomach doesn't mean that they're not harmful to   the liver they are less harmful than acetaminophen  but they also are very stressful they put a severe   burden significant burden on the liver as well and  this is especially if you use them in combination
• 14:00 - 14:30 with something so if you're using ibuprofen along  with something else from that other list now that   combination is always a bigger burden than one  thing by itself and this is especially true if   you already have some kind of compromise if you're  already getting closer to that 100% line then you   need to be very careful with these as well so  here's a couple of facts for you if they're   too shocking to believe then just go look them up  and verify them for yourself acetaminophen is the
• 14:30 - 15:00 most common cause of acute liver failure in the  United States and number two is an overdose of   acetaminophen can destroy half of a person's liver  cells in less than a week so we need to understand   that even though they're over-the-counter drugs  even though they're so sold to anybody for a few
• 15:00 - 15:30 dollars without a prescription it doesn't mean  that they're harmless these are things that we   need to take very seriously and if you use them at  all you use them when they're absolutely necessary   now on the bright side the liver is probably the  organ in the body that has the best regenerative   capacity of any organ so even if you kill off  half of the liver cells the liver can regenerate   so as long as we don't have a bunch of those other  conditions other other stressors present and the
• 15:30 - 16:00 person is generally fairly healthy then in about  a month's time the liver can regenerate itself   and after that if there no other complications  we may not see any damage at all but I want to   bring you back to this graph really quickly and  help you understand the number one way to destroy   your liver and to destroy your health overall  is to not understand that out of all of these
• 16:00 - 16:30 things that I have listed and this is just for  the liver they're slightly different for your   overall health but not really very much that  the first two here the metabolic waste and the   endogenous hormones those are the only ones that  our ancestors had those are the only ones that are   supposed to be in the body every everything  else in this red rectangle are things that
• 16:30 - 17:00 we have added these are man-made they are the  result of civilization of industrialization of   the willingness or incentive to use chemicals and  artificial things and put them in our bodies and   our ancestors didn't have any of these because  the world has changed more in the last 50 years   than it has in the previous 50,000 and if we  don't understand that and if we don't start
• 17:00 - 17:30 cleaning up our lifestyle and eliminating some  of these man-made things that is the number one   way that we hurt ourselves if you enjoyed this  video you're going to love that one and if you   truly want to master Health by understanding how  the body really works make sure you subscribe hit   that Bell and turn on all the notifications  so you never miss a life-saving video