Getting Active

If you haven’t exercised in a while, now is a great time to take the first step, and add some physical activity to your day.

How can exercise help my liver?

Exercise, along with a healthy diet, is the best way to maintain a healthy weight.
Being overweight or obese can increase liver damage risk, so maintaining a healthy weight can help your liver.
Weight loss can decrease the body’s demand on the liver and improve its ability to metabolise glucose.
Exercising can increase your muscle mass which increases your metabolism.
It has also been found to improve your mood, energy, immune function and also your sleep.

Getting active is an important part of day-to-day life for everyone, and has a number of proven health benefits. Being active and moving your body for at least 30 minutes a day can help to improve physical health, wellbeing and mood, and energy levels meaning that you can fit more into your day.

The Australian Physical Activity Guidelines suggest individuals should be active on most, if not all, days of the week. Adults aged between 18-64 years should aim to complete 2 ½ to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity, or 1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both, each week.

The World Health Organisation ([WHO] 2019) has provided the following definitions for moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity:

Moderate intensity is any activity that requires a medium amount of effort, and noticeably increases your heart rate
Vigorous intensity is any activity that requires a large amount of effort, causes heavy breathing and a big increase in your heart rate.

The Guidelines also suggest adults should complete strength training on at least 2 days each week. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2019), in 2017-2018 only 15% of active adults aged 18-64 years met the recommended physical activity guidelines. Regular physical activity can help individuals manage many elements of their health, including liver health.

*Please note it is important to receive clearance from your GP or other health care professional before exercising.

Benefits of physical activity on general health and wellbeing

Completing moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity on a regular basis has many positive health benefits, including:

Reduce the risk of or help manage chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers
Reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol
Build strong muscles and bones
Increase social connectedness
Improve mental health and wellbeing
Assist with weight loss and prevention of unhealthy weight gain (1)

Benefits of physical activity for the liver

The liver is the second largest organ in the human body and performs a number of functions to keep our bodies performing optimally. The functions of the liver include and are related to:

Digestion of food and drink
Filtering of medication and drugs, including alcohol
Nutrient processing
Metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates
Elimination of toxins
Cleaning of blood
Fighting infection (2)

Excessive weight can affect the liver’s ability to perform these functions and can contribute to liver damage. If the damage to the liver is left unaddressed it can progress through a number of stages of liver disease before resulting in liver failure.

For this reason, participating in physical activity is important to assist with weight loss, maintaining a healthy weight and to reduce the body’s demand on the liver.

Feelings of fatigue are often associated with poor liver health, which can result in inactivity, leading to a reduction in physical activity and potentially contributing to more fatigue (3). In this instance, participating in regular physical activity can break the cycle and help increase energy levels (Better Health Channel 2019b).

Reference List:

(1). Department of Health 2019b, Physical Activity, Department of Health, retrieved 5 August 2019, <https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/phy-activity>.

(2). Better Health Channel 2018, Liver, Department of Health and Human Services, retrieved 5 August 2019, <https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/liver>

(3). Sayiner et al. 2016; van den Berg-Emons 2014 – Sayiner, M, Stepanova, M, Pham, H Noor, B, Walters, M & Younossi, Z. M 2016, ‘Assessment of health utilities and quality of life in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), BMJ Open Gastro, vol. 3, pp. 1-5, doi:10.1136/bmjgast-2016-000106

(4). Better Health Channel 2018, Physical activity – it’s important, Department of Health and Human Services, retrieved 5 August 2019, <https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/
physical-activity-its-important>.