Liver Health: Health expert warns about the ‘worst' drink that can damage the liver
Liver diseases claim about 2 million deaths annually, which is about 4% of all deaths worldwide. A vital organ in the body, the
is responsible for over 500 functions, including the digestion of proteins, mineral storage, bile production, and blood filtration.
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Keeping the liver in good shape is crucial for overall well-being.
Dr. Eric Berg, a chiropractor and nutrition author who has guided hundreds toward better health, has now warned about a beverage that can cause devastating effects on liver health.
Most dangerous drink for the liver
'The most dangerous drink for your liver is NOT what you think…' he said in a video shared on Instagram.
Sodas and other sugary beverages often have a bad reputation for causing harm to the
.
However, a drink is far worse than those beverages. 'The worst drink for your liver is not soda with high fructose corn syrup. And it's not even beer or wine. There's something that is way more deadly. Drinking this is the fastest way to destroy your liver,' Dr. Berg said.
He said that two shots of this beverage in question can 'rapidly' destroy the liver. The beverage in question is hard liquor. Yes, that's right. He adds that the liver gets overwhelmed when one drinks hard liquor.
Now the liver has to break down and digest a toxic byproduct called acetaldehyde, which kills liver cells. This byproduct causes inflammation and overwhelms the liver's ability to regenerate. 'The worst drink for your liver is hard liquor.
I'm talking about the high proof alcohol, like 190 proof, 90%,' he said.
Why is hard liquor dangerous
Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance, that can wreak havoc on health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed that no level of alcohol is safe for consumption.
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While all alcoholic beverages can strain the liver, high-proof spirits are particularly harmful due to their concentrated alcohol content. Unlike beer or wine, which typically contain 5-12% alcohol, hard liquors or grain alcohol can reach 90% alcohol by volume.
This potency accelerates the production of acetaldehyde, overwhelming the liver's detoxification pathways.
Chronic consumption of high-proof alcohol can lead to inflammation and oxidative stress, which impair the liver's ability to repair itself.
Over time, this can result in irreversible damage, which may eventually lead to liver failure.
Fatty liver diet: Best and worst foods for your liver
Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, acting Unit Lead for Noncommunicable Disease Management and Regional Advisor for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs in the WHO Regional Office for Europe has earlier said, 'We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn't matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker's health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.
'
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