The liver is a large organ located in the right side of the abdomen. Its main function is to filter the blood coming from your digestive tract, prior to passing it to the other parts of your body.
It is also responsible for about 400 functions in your body, from detoxifying chemicals, and metabolizing drugs to digesting fats and storing essential minerals and vitamins. Your liver also releases bile, which ends up back in your intestines. It also produces proteins that play a significant role in blood clotting and many other vital functions.
This means that your liver is an important body organ that plays a vital role in maintaining good overall health.
But, the excessive consumption of alcohol, the regular consumption of processed foods high in preservatives and additives, and the long-term use of pharmaceutical drugs can burden your liver. In short, it can become sluggish and overloaded with toxins.
In case you do not provide your body with the right nutrients, your liver can become sluggish as well as backed up with loads of toxic work.
If Your Liver Is Overloaded with Toxins, You Will Experience the Following Symptoms:
In case your liver becomes sluggish, toxins cannot leave your body, so that they are accumulated in the fat tissues because they are lipid-soluble. In addition, these toxins will not leave your body until your liver function is improved.
These symptoms may indicate you have a sluggish liver:
- Skin conditions, such as acne
- Diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, and gas
- Unexplained weight gain
- Chronic fatigue
- Allergies
- Dull headaches that improve with rest or migraines or headaches behind your eyes
- Trouble digesting fats
- Lethargy, brain fog, or feeling drained
- Excessive sweating
- Hormonal imbalances
- Muscle aches and chronic joint pain
- Negative emotions
- Gall bladder removed
- Chronic bad breath
- Chemical sensitivities
- Depression and anxiety
Since you are constantly fighting against toxins you drink, consume, and apply on your skin, and various environmental toxins, it is a good idea to give your liver a bit of a break.
Fortunately, there are certain helpful tips on how to enhance your liver function.
Start by following a healthy lifestyle that revolves around pure water, organic foods, daily exercise, and the use of non-toxic personal care and cleaning products.
How to Support Optimal Liver Function
You should minimize your intake of processed foods, sugar, and starch foods. Moreover, you should also exclude any foods that contain gluten from your diet.
Following a healthy and balanced diet is not complicated, simply follow these recommendations in order to get on the right track:
-Eat healthy. This means that you should eat whole foods, raw seeds and nuts, healthy fats, high-quality plant and animal protein, fermented foods, and sprouted grains.
– Avoid buying GMO foods, purchase organic foods whenever possible, and use the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 when shopping.
– Eat more foods rich in sulfur, such as garlic, Brussels sprouts, kale, asparagus, onions, broccoli, and pasture-raised eggs.
– Exclude processed sugars, like brown or white sugar, cane juice crystals, beet sugar, cane sugar, and cane juice from your diet.
– Consume fiber-rich foods. Namely, take at least 35g of fiber every day from whole food sources, including golden flax seeds, chia seeds, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, artichokes, and avocado.
– Eat more leafy green veggies since they are a great source of vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium and folate.
– Consume plant-based and animal-based foods, including cabbage, grass-fed eggs and chicken, bone broth, parsley, spinach, collagen, and beets because they are high in essential amino acids.
– Introduce healthy fats, like hemp, avocado, grass-fed butter, sustainable red palm oil, extra-virgin coconut oil, and ghee in your diet.
– Make sure you do not take more that 25g of fructose daily. Fructose in present in high- fructose/glycemic fruits, high fructose corn syrup (glucose-fructose), and agave.
– Do not consume any inflammatory oils such as soybean, sunflower, canola, vegetable oil, cottonseed, safflower, and corn.
– Consume lots of pure water every day. (You should drink self-harvested spring water or remineralized water.) To calculate how much water you should drink daily, simply take your weight in pounds, and then divide it in half. It is actually the amount of water you need to drink in ounces.
– Limit or exclude alcohol. In case you experience a few of the symptoms of sluggish liver, then make sure you replace this toxic habit with grape kombucha.
How to Do a Liver Detox with These 3 Foods, Herbs, or Spices:
- Milk Thistle
It is an herb that has long been used as a result of its powerful liver-cleansing properties. Additionally, its main active compound, silymarin, has incredible antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and anti-viral abilities.
Moreover, it has an ability to prevent liver cell damage. This liver cell damage often occurs due to high amounts of alcohol, viruses, toxins, and pharmaceutical drugs like acetaminophen. Milk thistle is available in supplement form. So, you may want to take a high-quality, non-GMO milk thistle supplement. That’s not all, fermented milk thistle is also available in liquid form. In addition, you can add it to your veggie juice.
- Globe Artichoke
Globe artichoke is actually a member of the thistle family. It belongs to the same family as Milk Thistle. However, you can introduce globe artichoke in your diet! It can elevate the production of bile, and protect and support your liver function. It is rich in fiber that can help flush out bile and decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Are you familiar with the fact that even when cooked, globe artichoke has a higher amount of antioxidant agents compared to raw asparagus, garlic, and broccoli? So, simply steam your globe artichokes and mix them with some Himalayan salt, raw garlic, and coconut or ghee for a liver-detoxifying meal.
- Turmeric
Turmeric is a spice that has been found to lower inflammation. The main active ingredient found in the spice, curcumin, has been connected to a number of health benefits. Specifically, it can induce enzymes responsible for removing known dietary carcinogens! This ingredient can also prevent liver cell damage, and support regeneration of affected liver cells as a result its potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
You should mix the spice with some black pepper and healthy fats for maximum absorption. You may also want to take a high-quality curcumin or turmeric supplement. Plus, make golden milk with some plant milk, coconut oil, freshly grated turmeric root, black pepper, and some warming spices.
These are only a few recommendations you should follow in order to improve your liver health.
