Your liver does a great deal for your body, whether you realize it or not; it acts as a filter for many of the toxins and other things you take in on a daily basis. Given the amount of unhealthy food and beverages many of us habitually consume, that could mean a daily beating, figuratively speaking, for this hardworking organ. Of course, there are times when it simply can’t cope, and that triggers a number of other problems in the body as no other organ can do what the liver does. So why not take care of your liver and help it stay healthy?

And taking care of your liver doesn’t just mean cutting back on alcohol and hard-to-process food (although those are pretty good moves to start out with). One study suggests that one way to lower your risk of developing liver cancer, which is one of the top-killing cancers in the world, is to make sure get enough vitamin E.

The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and was based on information from 132,837 participants in studies conducted by a partnership between the Shanghai Cancer Institute in China and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. By studying participant’s dietary habits, the researchers were able to compare the liver cancer risks of those who consumed a lot of vitamin E and those who didn’t. They found that, regardless of whether the participants had suffered liver disease in the past or had a history of liver cancer in their families, taking vitamin E reduced their risk of developing liver cancer.

The researchers made no distinction between those who took vitamin E through their regular diet and those who took vitamin supplements. If you’re interested in supplements, these are available over the counter in most drug stores; if you’re looking to add vitamin E to your diet, the US National Institutes of Health cites nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables, and fortified cereals as common sources of vitamin E.


(Photo by Selva Morales via Flickr Creative Commons)