Using nutrition to help improve liver function post treatment.

[Mugwump]

The Canadian Liver Foundation is a very good organization for online information about how nutrition can help our livers post treatment. Especially those of us who have progressed past f2 or have cirrhosis and are now free from HCV.

For those who want to use specific food values here is a link to an updated document with the data necessary for doing food value calculations necessary for correct portioning. www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/pdf/nutrition/fiche-nutri-data/nvscf-vnqau-eng.pdf

Finally the stodgy old Canada Food Guide has been updated with decent scientifically based information (in the past it was far too vague, food industry biased and unrealistic, to say the least!)

I am still cooking for seniors part time and a key part of my job is creating meals that follow strict nutritional guidelines. At the same time we strive to reduce the reliance on salt while producing meals that are both balanced and appealing.
Giving our bodies the best chance to heal from the damage done by hep C is a goal that seems of great importance and is one that is much overlooked in my opinion.

I can tell you that the use of good cooking techniques, knowing food values, the careful portioning and preparation of ingredients is an absolute imperative in my job.

For instance: For seniors who have difficulty chewing or especially liver related digestive and swallowing issues, we use special preparation methods and some individuals are served minced or pureed meals specifically to aid in the digestive process.

Therefore: For some of us with cirrhosis caused digestive issues, preparing food differently to aid in digestion may help greatly.
The pages of the Canadian Liver Foundation in the first link go into this in greater detail.

Indeed the old saw "you are what you eat" has a kernel of truth in it.
For example of how important food value knowledge is: Just the other day the main entré was Salmon Alfredo served with noodles. I burned my alternate by accident. My alternate was Cornish Pasties, which almost set off the smoke alarms when I got busy and forgot them in a 425f oven! Because I had left over boiled eggs I quickly came up with a second noodle dish on the spot, I used pesto sauce with sliced boiled eggs portioned correctly as my alternate. I had to do quick calculations on the spot to create a correct starch/protein balance. Knowing the nutrition and portioning values of the foods made the job a breeze.
Cheers and good health
Eric
PS; FYI 75 grams of bear meat has 24 grams of protein. Just don't tell that to a bear!    

[andrew j]

Hi Eric,

This is good stuff.

I've actually just had a bit of a breakthrough in the diet dept.
Finally, after years of what probably amounted to overeating (eating large volumes, esp. at night, in order to get necessary nutrition because of a semi-veg diet (not much tolerance for meat-base protein) - I have now ...

There was an intermediate stage following Tx: slowly more animal-based protein (which I seem to need), and consequently a bit less volume.

Now (and acknowledging that I'm over 60) finally - even less volume at night - and a simpler, cleaner diet.:
Rice; a bit of oily fish; some root veg, and some simple salad stuff ... with a good whack of olive oil, still (which I think I learnt to metabolise because of insufficient protein (above)).

We don't actually need much food to get by on.
... But maybe you need a bit more [esp.animal protein, and fat] in colder places like Canada.

Please take it easy around those bears, eh?!!