10 Signs Your Liver Is Healing
Medically reviewed by our experts
11 min read
4 citations
One of the most important organs your body relies on each day is your liver. Even if you’ve damaged it, you can look forward to signs your liver is healing once you get back on the right track.
Alcohol is one of the main heavyweights that your liver takes on. Most people are familiar with the term cirrhosis, which is the disease caused by overconsumption of alcohol. The liver simply can’t process out all these toxins without becoming weak and depleted.
Symptoms of Liver Damage and Cirrhosis
Liver damage often begins silently, with no apparent symptoms. However, as the condition progresses, specific signs start to emerge. It’s crucial to remember that by the time these symptoms appear, the liver has likely been under stress for a while.
Here are the common symptoms indicating potential liver damage or cirrhosis:
- Persistent fatigue, beyond general tiredness
- Loss of appetite leading to weight fluctuations
- Nausea, often accompanied by vomiting
- Mild discomfort in the upper right abdomen
- Sleep disturbances
- Darkened urine
- Dry, itchy skin
- Cognitive changes, such as confusion or personality shifts
- Easy bruising or bleeding
- Swelling in the legs, feet, or abdomen
- Yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes
- Memory issues
- Reddened palms
- Nasal or gum bleeding
- Chest pain
- Digestive issues like constipation or diarrhea
Despite these symptoms, a diagnosis of cirrhosis isn’t a death sentence. The liver is a remarkable organ with the ability to heal itself when given the opportunity. By managing factors such as alcohol consumption, you can start the process of liver healing. The absence or reduction of the above symptoms can be a positive sign of recovery.
Signs Your Liver Is Healing
When your liver is damaged, it can lead to serious health issues. However, if you are taking steps to care for your liver and consuming best liver detox foods, it is possible for it to heal and function properly again. Here are a few signs that your liver is healing:
1. Balanced Weight
Your liver is directly related to your metabolism. Liver disease is classified as a metabolic issue, which means that it affects how you metabolize your food. So, some people gain weight even though they don’t have much of an appetite, or they lose weight even though they consume high-in-calorie drinks such as beer.
Liver healing allows the metabolism to get back on track. As your liver begins working properly, you’ll see weight gain and loss that matches what you’re consuming (or not) and your level of physical activity.
2. Increased Appetite
Since your liver is related to your metabolism, one that works properly will digest your food properly, too. This means that your body will be able to release the appropriate hunger signals at the right time, telling you that your body wants good, nutritionally balanced foods.
This one is doubly beneficial when combined with the increased appetite you’ll have from cutting out alcohol, too. Your body will begin to function normally again in so many ways as your liver heals and you live with healthy habits.
3. Digestive Relief
Not only will your appetite come back and your weight balance, but everything in your abdominal region will feel better, too. Often, people struggling with alcoholism and cirrhosis experience severe bouts of nausea and vomiting. This makes sense since there is such a high amount of toxins in the system and since the body can’t properly metabolize any nutrients that happen to be consumed.
Excessive alcohol use also irritates the stomach lining. This can make nausea and vomiting very uncomfortable, even dangerous! A deteriorated stomach lining that has to put up with highly acidic fluids and vomit leads to ulcers, which cause even greater problems.
When your liver begins to heal, so will your digestive system. Even though you can’t see it, as with the improved skin tone and balanced weight, you’ll be able to feel how much better things are moving along inside. Use this sign that your liver is healing as a way to stay focused on the task ahead so that your whole body can get back to functioning well.
4. Improved Skin Tone
Yellowed skin, or jaundice, is a common sign of liver dysfunction. Since it can’t process out all the toxins, those toxins accumulate inside your body and blood, which then become visible through your skin.
As soon as your liver isn’t overloaded and begins to heal, those toxins will clear up and move out. You’ll feel better about yourself (and not so on display), which will help you continue on the path to healing.
5. Improved Eye Appearance
Jaundice doesn’t just affect the skin. Those built-up toxins also show through the whites of the eyes. You might be able to cover up most of your skin with long sleeves and pants, but it’s harder not to make eye contact with anyone throughout the day.
You want to be able to look at and converse with people without being embarrassed about your yellowed, jaundiced eyes. As your liver heals, your eyes will clear, and you’ll feel that you have a new lease on life.
6. Bloodwork Gains
There’s no hiding an issue when you get bloodwork done. Those with fatty liver disease, such as cirrhosis, have bloodwork that spells out the diagnosis.
This is one of the signs your liver is healing that might take a little longer than the others, such as appetite gain and improved skin tone. However, continued bloodwork samples will show improvement over the months and years, which are excellent markers for you to track progress and stay motivated.
7. Less Pain
Imagine that you’re filling a colander with water and letting the water seep through. It goes through the holes smoothly and easily because nothing is blocking its path. However, if you fill the colander with greasy substances, food peelings, and other refuse and then try to run water through it, nothing can get out!
This is what happens when your liver is too full of toxins to process them through. The toxins just keep trying to get into the organ, though, and the liver swells and clogs. Of course, there is only so much space for your liver to expand, so it puts you in a great deal of pain.
But again, the first day that you don’t put alcohol into your body, you begin reaping the benefits of the signs your liver is healing and returning to normal functioning.
8. Improved Cognitive Function
An overload of toxins doesn’t just affect your liver. It affects your brain, too, since all your systems are connected (similarly to how your skin begins to yellow because the toxins are backed up). Poor liver function often causes brain fog, which includes symptoms such as:
- Sleepiness
- Forgetfulness
- Irritability
- Frustration
- Mood swings
- Lethargy
The confluence of all these symptoms might make it difficult to continue on the road to sobriety and a healthy life. However, know that the brain fog you’re experiencing from poor liver function will go away the more you give your liver the time to heal.
This sign of a healthy liver will come quickly, which will inspire you to keep going. You might even find yourself with renewed motivation to pursue educational classes, a hobby, or to put more effort into your job. Your improved self-esteem and others’ perceptions of you will propel you forward.
9. More Energy
As we said, all your body systems are connected. So, when your liver begins shutting down, other systems struggle to take on the extra load. This creates a lack of energy and a feeling of lethargy (closely connected to the brain fog we just detailed).
When you’re in the throes of alcoholism and cirrhosis, even regular tasks such as daily self-care, preparing a simple meal, or doing a menial chore might seem insurmountable. This is because your metabolism isn’t functioning properly, meaning that your body isn’t properly absorbing the nutrients from any food you’re consuming. Not only can it not get the good stuff in, but it can’t get the bad stuff out!
But, as per the pattern of liver healing, this will turn around quickly. Once you let go of the alcohol and give your liver a breather, those toxins will begin to dissipate, and your metabolism will kick back into gear. If improving your liver function doesn’t help with your energy issues, you can read our article on how to increase energy levels.
10. Motivation to Continue
How do you know your liver is healing? Your life is better in all areas. This last sign of liver improvement is akin to the whole being more than the sum of its parts. Allowing your liver to heal gives you so many health and mental benefits.
When times get hard, make a list of all the signs your liver is healing from alcohol that you’ve seen in yourself. If you struggle to do this, ask your spouse, children, or other close people in your life what improvements they’ve seen in you! Put these on your mirror or your desk to remind yourself that you are worth it, your body is worth it, and that there is only better to come.
Ways to Keep Your Liver Healthy
Of course, there are many things you can do to maintain a healthy liver besides eliminating alcohol. You can read our article about best ways to improve liver function. You can also cut down on several foods that can damage your liver, such as:
- Saturated fats
- Red meat
- Gluten-filled bread and pasta
- Refined sugar
- Baked treats and pastries
- Salty foods
- Fast food
You can also add liver-healthy foods to your diet, such as:
- Fresh fruits
- Fresh vegetables
- Eggs
- Nuts
- Steel-cut oatmeal
- Black coffee and green tea
Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, suggests Liver Health Formula by PureHealth Research for better liver function!
It’s not just about liver cleanse diet, though! Our bodies respond well to vitamins and best supplements for cleanse and detox that we can’t get enough of through our modern diets. One of the easiest ways to keep a healthy liver through a supplement is with the Liver Health Formula, which adds these essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients (among others) into your bloodstream:
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Beet
- Dandelion
- Alfalfa
- Silymarin
- Glycine
- Vitamin D-3
Final Thoughts
A cirrhosis diagnosis might have been the nail in the coffin of your alcohol consumption. If it motivated you to stop drinking and give your body a break, then kudos to you! Our bodies are amazing, and the liver’s ability to heal itself is one of those incredible ways that your body can come back from rock bottom.
If you’ve looked in the mirror and asked, “What are signs my liver is healing?”, now you can answer that question. Hopefully, you’ve begun seeing some of these signs your liver is healthy. If you’re just beginning, you can have all these signs of a healthy liver (and more!) to look forward to.
Yes, the liver has a remarkable ability to heal itself when given the opportunity. By managing factors such as alcohol consumption and adopting a healthy lifestyle, the liver can begin the process of healing.
Yellowed skin, or jaundice, indicates liver dysfunction. As the liver heals and clears out toxins, the skin tone improves, becoming less yellow.
As the liver heals and toxins are processed more efficiently, swelling and inflammation decrease, leading to less pain in the abdomen and other areas.
Popular Articles
Advertisement. This site offers health, wellness, fitness and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other health-care professional. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your health-care professional because of something you may have read on this site. The use of any information provided on this site is solely at your own risk.
Share:
