What bad habits can cause liver cancer? Eight ways to prevent liver cancer

Some friends may think that as long as they don’t have liver disease, they will not get liver cancer. However, here I want to remind everyone that there are actually many bad habits in daily life that increase the risk of liver cancer, and using moldy chopsticks is one of them.

Moldy chopsticks can also cause liver cancer

Compared with disposable chopsticks, household chopsticks are more likely to deteriorate. Household chopsticks are used frequently and washed with water for a long time, which makes them a hotbed for the growth of bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In mild cases, they may cause infectious diarrhea, vomiting and other digestive system diseases. Severely moldy chopsticks will breed "aflatoxin", which has been widely recognized to induce liver cancer.

If you keep chopsticks in a cupboard for a long time, the chance of them going bad may increase by more than five times. Generally speaking, chopsticks can be replaced after six months of use. In addition, chopsticks can only achieve the ideal sterilization effect if they are boiled in 100℃ boiling water for more than 5 minutes. The ideal sterilization method is to use a high-temperature disinfection cabinet.

Drinking and smoking

Many men have the habit of drinking, and some of them drink heavily. In many social occasions nowadays, drinking has almost become one of the necessary social means, whether it is talking about business or having a happy party. Some people even judge the depth of friendship by how much they drink, so everyone often "does not go home until they are drunk" while drinking. As a result, the liver is often overloaded and liver diseases are induced. Tobacco contains more than 4,000 harmful substances. Research surveys have shown that the proportion of smokers suffering from liver cancer is much higher than that of non-smokers. After the harmful substances in cigarettes are inhaled into the human body, they damage many internal organs including the liver.

Do not eat moldy food

Aflatoxin in fungi is a carcinogen. The carcinogenicity of aflatoxin is 75 times stronger than that of nitrosamines, a recognized carcinogen. The toxin can induce liver cancer in humans, monkeys, mice, and poultry. The shortest time required for cancer is 24 weeks. To prevent fungal contamination of food, you should pay attention to the following: peanuts, corn, sweet potato chips, rice, millet, etc. stored at home must be dried thoroughly and stored in a dry and ventilated environment. Moldy peanuts, potato chips, radish chips, etc. should be discarded.

Often stay up late

Staying up late is very bad for your health, and the liver has its best detoxification time, which is from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am. If people often stay up late during this period, it will seriously affect the liver's detoxification and easily lead to insufficient blood flow to the liver, which will affect the normal nutrition and nourishment of liver cells, thereby leading to a decrease in the body's resistance and eventually inducing liver cancer.

Substance abuse

Drug abuse is one of the important causes of liver cancer, because after entering the human body, drugs need to be metabolized and detoxified by the liver before they can play a normal therapeutic role in the human body. If people take many kinds of drugs, drug interactions are likely to occur, which will not only affect the liver's metabolic capacity, but may also cause liver damage, greatly increasing the chance of cancer.

The liver is an organ in the body that mainly performs metabolic functions. Everyone has a liver, and for the sake of our own health, we should protect it. There are eight ways to protect the liver:

Method 1: Drinking alcohol per day: Men should not exceed 50 grams, and women should not exceed 25 grams

Middle-aged people have more social activities, but if they drink excessively for a long time, the alcohol in the wine will damage liver cells and cause alcoholic liver disease. Drinking alcohol will aggravate or even worsen the condition of liver disease patients.

Long-term drinking generally refers to more than five years, equivalent to a daily alcohol (ethanol) amount of 40 grams for men and 20 grams for women. Drinking a lot of alcohol within 2 weeks (daily alcohol amount ≥ 80 grams) is also at risk of alcoholic fatty liver disease. The ethanol conversion formula is: grams of alcohol = alcohol consumption (ml) × alcohol content (%) × 0.8 (ethanol specific gravity).

According to the safe amount recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society, adult healthy men should drink less than 50 grams of liquor and less than 100 grams of red wine per day; adult healthy women should drink less than 25 grams of liquor and less than 50 grams of red wine per day. In view of the risk factors for fatty liver disease, patients with diet-related chronic diseases such as insulin resistance and diabetes are advised to quit drinking.

Method 2: Quitting smoking

The large amount of toxic substances in cigarettes will not only damage the lungs, heart, and brain, but also the liver. Therefore, in order to protect the health of the liver and other organs, it is recommended that everyone should refuse to smoke and quit smoking.

Method 3: Do not eat more than 30 grams of oil per day

If you often overeat or eat one meal and skip another, it will increase the burden on the liver. Therefore, you should eat in moderation, especially not overeat fatty foods, and the daily fat intake should be less than 30 grams.

Method 4: Be careful when taking medicines and health products

Since most drugs are metabolized in the liver, some drugs can cause varying degrees of liver damage after taking them, manifested as liver disease symptoms or abnormal liver function, known as drug-induced hepatitis. Common drugs include tetracycline, sedatives, antipyretics, analgesics, and anti-rheumatic drugs. Therefore, when you are sick, you must use the drugs scientifically under the guidance of a doctor. If you need to take the above-mentioned drugs due to your condition, you should try to reduce the dosage and duration of use, and check your liver function frequently. It should be noted that some traditional Chinese medicines and nutritional supplements may also cause liver damage.

Method 5: Stay calm

Depression and anger are important factors that damage liver function. Middle-aged people are under pressure from work, family, society, etc., and their emotions are often unstable, which leads to liver qi stagnation and discomfort, which can easily cause liver disease over time. Therefore, middle-aged people must learn to self-regulate and try to stay calm.

Method 6: Vaccination against hepatitis A and B

The most effective way to avoid viral hepatitis is to get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B. After vaccination, antibody levels should be tested regularly and vaccination should be strengthened in time to achieve the goal of protecting the liver to the maximum extent.

Method 7: Have a physical examination once a year after age 40

Because the liver has a strong compensatory function, there are often no typical clinical manifestations in the early stages of liver disease, and when clinical manifestations appear, it is often at a relatively late stage. Therefore, it is particularly recommended that people over 40 years old undergo a physical examination every year to prevent diseases early and treat them early.

Method 8: Exercise for at least half an hour every day

Performing moderate-intensity physical activity for 30 minutes every day can not only promote gas exchange and blood flow in the body, so that the liver has sufficient oxygen and nutrient supply, but also accelerate metabolism and promote the excretion of waste or toxic substances from the body, thus protecting the liver. Suitable exercise for middle-aged people includes walking, jogging, playing ball, dancing, and Tai Chi.