Here is an interesting article we read. We'll copy it here, but the original can be accessed at the Canadian Liver Foundation. We're certainly not promoting the article as gospel, but it's worth having a look at and discussing it with your physician.
It is vitally important that patients with liver disease maintain a balanced diet, one that ensures adequate calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Such a diet will aid the liver in the regeneration of liver cells. Nutrition that supports this regeneration is a means of treatment of some liver disorders.
Patients with cirrhosis, for example, who are malnourished, require a diet rich in protein and providing 2,000 - 3,000 calories per day to help the liver re-build itself. However, some cirrhotic patients have protein intolerance. Too much protein will result in an increased amount of ammonia in the blood, while too little protein can reduce healing of the liver. Doctors must carefully prescribe a specific amount of protein that will not elevate the blood ammonia. Lactulose and neomycin are two drugs that help keep the ammonia down.
It is believed that the risk of gallbladder disorders can be reduced by avoiding high fat and cholesterol foods and preventing obesity. The gallbladder is a storage sac for the bile produced by the liver. During digestion, the gallbladder releases bile into the small intestine through the common bile duct. Most gallbladder problems are caused by gallstones and 80-90% of all gallstones are produced from excessive cholesterol, which crystallizes and forms stones. By maintaining a well-balanced diet and avoiding high cholesterol intake, the incidence of gallstone formation may be lowered.
Finally, patients with liver disease should be wary of supplements to the diet, particularly fad foods or packaged “nutritional” aids. Such foods can contain a lot of salt, potassium or inappropriate protein mixtures. Those that are safe should be taken only under a physician’s guidance.