Elevated Liver Enzymes & Craft Beer

I drink in moderation almost daily (not just beer) and get a fairly extensive blood work-up every year for preventative purposes.

I've never had anything come up out of range with regards to liver function.

Needless to say, we are all different. What adversely affects my body might not do the same to another person and vice-versa.

When I have had out of range blood numbers, I've discussed them with my doctor and planned a course of action suitable for my particular situation. I am lucky to have a doc who is realistic and does not constantly spew the party line from medical textbooks. That certainly helps me when making lifestyle choices.

 

This post could've been me almost exactly 1 year ago (I think either my first, or second appointment was on St. Patrick's day).

So, 2 physicals ago, I probably had a beer out at dinner at a restaurant (so a few times a month, if that) or the occasional 6 pack in the fridge...then Black Friday 2013 hit, I bought some BCBS and joined BA. So by the time my 2014 physical came around, I was having a beer a day making dinner and sometimes that 1 beer was a 15% BCBS - so my numbers were up.

The doc asked for a retest, and I asked him "are you comparing me year-over-year to last year, or some absolute standard" and he said primarily year-over-year. He asked me to take a month off (first available appointment was in 3 weeks, though, so I took it) :-) Numbers were normal after that.

I need to make this year's appointment - thanks for the reminder!

 

I have had some issues before also. I take Acia supplements and vitamin E every day. Once a month I do a two week live cleanse called Ultra Liver Cleanse Enzymatic therapy. Had normal levels last physical with taking one day off and got a $500,000 life insurance policy this year with the same formula. Something to look into.

 

So I'm not saying drinking too much doesn't lead to elevated liver enzymes because clearly science has proven it does, BUT while I have high marks on the liver test so does my mother and my oldest daughter-- both the latter do not drink at all. So it can be genetics that tips the scale unfavorably in your direction if you do drink on top of it. Everything in moderation and exercise/being active along with good nutrition does help-- again as shown by science. Too much of anything will kill you though. Drink too much water-- you die. True story.

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/water-intoxication

So yeah, moderation in everything.

 

Hahahaha

 

no harm in being as healthy as you can and eliminating OTC meds, beer, and living as clean a life as possible until your physician hammers this out. I second the advice of seeking help from a specialist if the cause is not immediately determined by your regular physician.

many of us had to eliminate all beer for a while for one reason or another (for me = 2 pregnancies). Really, it's not big deal. The beer will still be there when you're better ;-)

 

My doctor said a 6pk a night was ok.

FWIW, his brother owns the local pub.

 

I just take a long look in the mirror every once in a while, if the white of my eyes start to turn yellow...then I'll know I need help.

 

It didn't get this far for me, but I did have a recent wake up call when I started to develop a bit of a beer gut even though I still run and workout regularly and watch what I eat. Then I started to feel like crap more times then I felt better, then I started to track what I drink (the types of beers, frequency, ABV...) and I realized it was way more than I feel is healthy for me so I immediately cut back on drinking and in no time I was back to feeling really good again. I rarely drink during the week now and if I do it is 1-2, and on the weekends I have no more than 4-6 throughout the course of a weekend. I love craft beer but I am not getting any younger and overdoing it is not worth my health.

I hope you feel better, OP, and things work out for you (everyone else who is having issues)!

 

I drink a lot of beer. A few years ago my blood test showed elevated enzyme levels in what my doctor called my "Fatty Liver" Told me to either quit all alcohol, or he would have to take me off my blood pressure meds. I started taking 3 caps of Sundown Milk Thistle Xtra a day. I made no other changes. 6 months later after another round of bloodwork, everything went back to acceptable range. Because I'm an idiot, I quit taking the supplements. 6 months later enzymes were sky high again. Went back to the supplements and everything went back to the good. Been 2 years and no bad results since. I swear by this stuff. And no, I don't work for or own stock in this company.

 

Awe man, we have GOT to get someone to brew this stuff up into a Beer.

 

Lots have already chimed in and I have only personal anecdotes to relate, so take as thou wilt:

I drink regularly but not consistently in terms of daily intake (some days I have several, others none at all), and have been since my mid-20s, more or less (I'm 42 now), and the only conversation I've had with my GP about alcohol is how we both are kinda beer geeks, and that was because I was wearing a Sculler's IPA t-shirt, not because my test results were of any concern.

 

I'm especially thinking a Toadflax IPA would be freaking awesome (SPOILER ALERT: For those of you incapable of understanding sarcasm, I might be full of shit!).

 

Some people are just created with better liver function than others. Some people are just genetically predisposed to certain things while others are not and you add in environmental variations and then you have these numbers that are off. Hepatoxicity can be caused by a number of factors and alcohol is just one of them. Some people can drink hard liquor for 70 years daily and never have any problems and then die of a car crash or some fluke accident at 90. Others can not drink, smoke or engage in any risky behaviors and otherwise live a healthy lifestyle and die of cancer at 40. I say monitor it and keep enjoying your beer if that is what you like, apparently you do or you would not be posting here. You get one go at this, so you might as well enjoy yourself, its later than you think!

 

To the OP: if it worries you, then stop drinking. The stress from worrying is also not good for your health. You could always go "full hypochondria" and go online to investigate the causes. But more than likely you'll find out that you contracted some rare parasite from your days of drinking Natty Light in college that's having a negative impact on your liver. But in all seriousness you need to relax or you're going to get an ulcer and that's certainly not good for your craft beer consumption. Priorities my man.....priorities.

 

The problem is that they start out yellow and turn clear. Everyone knows the truth about their drinking. People really do choose what they do, one way or the other.

 

Your first thread asked if you were drinking too much.

Your second thread is regarding elevated liver enzymes at recent physical.

Your second thread answered your first thread. Do NOT come to this website for advice on alcohol and health. You will receive justification and poor advice. I am not providing either.

 

Here's another thing to think about. I had the same issue with my primary care physician and it turned out it was related to the exercise itself. It's well known in the athletic and bodybuilding medicine that even a single moderately heavy workout can raise most of your liver function tests (LFTs) such as AST, ALT, LD, CK and myoglobin to highly pathological levels for over a week as a result of muscle breakdown and rebuilding processes. Physcians not immersed in the sports world take a look at such high numbers they usually only see in hepatitis and cirrhosis patients and freak out. They often treat according to spreadsheet numbers (in their defense - better safe than sorry) and are not used to people who work out much. It confuses the already startled physician to see lab numbers indicating liver disease in a patient that looks healthy and has no symptoms of liver disease. Add in all the protein shakes and other supplements (and/or craft beer your liver has to handle and it confuses the issue even more for them (and you). Unless you are an alcoholic or severely abusing the supplements, the raised LFTs are most likely just a normal result of your workouts. If you are working out 6 days a week with any intensity you are in a constant state of tearing down and rebuilding muscle so will naturally have high LFTs. If you do a quick google search for "heavy exercise and liver funtion tests" and you'll see an extensive listing of studies and postings. One of the first is from the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP) called "Muscular Exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men." The advice from bodybuilders and athletes is just to lay off the exercise and supplements for a week before getting labs done and your numbers will be much better. Hope that helps a bit!

 

Thanks for the info @bordeaaj . So I am wondering if heavy exercise is bad for your liver? I currently lift heavy about 4x a week.