Celebrating the Holidays with joy, balance, and liver health
As the festive period approaches, EASL wishes you a balanced, healthy, and joyful celebration. The holidays are a wonderful time to gather with loved ones, relax, and reflect on the year gone by. At EASL, we understand that this season often comes with delicious food, festivities, and perhaps a few indulgences. Check out our gentle reminders for a liver-friendly holiday season and learn about common myths of liver detoxification!
Four tips for a health-conscious holiday
1. Eat and drink mindfully: Savor each festive treat and beverage by practicing mindful eating. Listen to your body and stop when satisfied.
2. Celebrate movement: This could be as basic as a family walk or some light stretching after meals, wonderful ways to stay active and boost digestion while also reducing stress.
3. Don’t forget to rest: Holidays can be busy, but it is important to balance the festivities with proper rest. Sleep, hydration, and moments of relaxation can go a long way in helping your body feel its best.
4. Try healthy swaps: If you’re looking for a lighter option, reach for fruit-based desserts or sparkling water mocktails with a twist of cranberry or pomegranate to get into the holiday spirit.
Common myths about liver detoxification
After the holiday season, many people look for ways to reset and prioritise their well-being following festive meals and celebrations. However, detox programmes are not necessary, or even beneficial. The liver is naturally equipped to process and eliminate toxins, drugs, and metabolic waste through complex biochemical mechanisms like enzymatic reactions and bile secretion. Detox diets or supplements do not enhance this function and lack scientific evidence to support claims of removing "extra" toxins. Instead, maintaining liver health relies on a balanced diet, regular exercise, hydration, and limiting harmful substances such as alcohol. After periods of overindulgence, the liver can recover on its own when supported by healthy lifestyle habits.
Make your impact
Looking to expand your knowledge on liver health this winter holiday and gear up for exciting events in the New Year? Explore the links below!
Resources
• EASL Studio S4E8: "Alcohol and food policies".
• EASL Studio S5E7: "Why bother with diet and exercise when an injection will suffice?".
• NAFLD Summit 2022 session “Nutrition/food, alcohol and environmental toxins as (co-) factors of NAFLD”.
EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines and Policy Statements
Events
• Join the EASL SLD Summit 2025 session entitled: "State-of-the-Art: Preventive hepatology: Societal challenges in prevention of liver disease: is “healthy livers healthy lives” Utopia?".
• Many EASL Congress 2025 sessions in the Metabolism, Alcohol and Toxicity track await you! Make it your New Year resolution to join us in Amsterdam or online on 7-10 May. Early fee ends on 14 January!
Publications
• Basu A, Rhone M, Lyons TJ. Berries: emerging impact on cardiovascular health. Nutr Rev. 2010 Mar;68(3):168-77. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2010.00273.x. PMID: 20384847; PMCID: PMC3068482.
• Aviram M, Dornfeld L, Rosenblat M, Volkova N, Kaplan M, Coleman R, Hayek T, Presser D, Fuhrman B. Pomegranate juice consumption reduces oxidative stress, atherogenic modifications to LDL, and platelet aggregation: studies in humans and in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 May;71(5):1062-76. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/71.5.1062. PMID: 10799367.
• Klein AV, Kiat H. Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight management: a critical review of the evidence. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2015 Dec;28(6):675-86. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12286. Epub 2014 Dec 18. PMID: 25522674.
• Grant DM. Detoxification pathways in the liver. J Inherit Metab Dis. 1991;14(4):421-30. doi: 10.1007/BF01797915. PMID: 1749210.
• Romero-Gómez M, Zelber-Sagi S, Trenell M. Treatment of NAFLD with diet, physical activity and exercise. J Hepatol. 2017 Oct;67(4):829-846. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.05.016. Epub 2017 May 23. PMID: 28545937.
• Barouki R, Samson M, Blanc EB, Colombo M, Zucman-Rossi J, Lazaridis KN, Miller GW, Coumoul X. The exposome and liver disease - how environmental factors affect liver health. J Hepatol. 2023 Aug;79(2):492-505. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2023.02.034. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36889360; PMCID: PMC10448911.
• British Liver Trust, Diet and Liver Disease, 2021.
🎉 Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 🎉