Protein is a nutrient responsible for helping your body build healthy skin, tissue and hair as well as giving you energy for your day. Your liver is responsible for breaking down protein sources in your daily diet. If your liver function is impaired due to a liver disease like cirrhosis or hepatitis, your physician may recommend restricting protein intake in your daily diet.
Recommendations
While your protein intake may vary based on how advanced your liver disease is, your physician will typically recommend eating about 1 g of protein per kg of your body weight -- roughly half your weight in pounds. If you weigh 154 lbs., you should eat about 70 g of protein per day. This number will be less if your liver function is severely impaired. Because malnutrition can be a concern when you have liver disease, your physician will closely monitor you to ensure you can take in enough protein to remain healthy.
Food Sources
The body breaks down protein sources in different manners. For example, the body is able to use whey protein isolate shakes with minimal waste created, while animal proteins may create more waste. Talk to your doctor about the best protein sources for your diet. Examples can include lean cuts of chicken and beef, eggs and fish. Vegetables like nuts, beans, legumes and soy products also can be good sources of protein that your body may tolerate better if you experience impaired liver function.
Severe Liver Disease
If your liver disease has advanced to where you have difficulty consuming most protein sources, your physician can recommend a protein supplement or shake that your body may tolerate better. You should only consume these protein sources if your physician recommends it.
Adverse Effects
If you have liver disease and take in too much protein, you are at increased risk for experiencing a condition called hepatic encephalopathy. This condition causes mental confusion because the excess protein builds up in your blood and can be toxic to your body. It also is possible that you can experience adverse side effects to your liver if you eat a long-term, high-protein diet. While high-protein diets can be a temporary weight-loss solution, eating too much protein can be hard on your liver and kidneys because they may not be able to break down and filter all the protein.
