Detoxification has become a common health exercise these days because of the huge junk food we eat these days. In other words, cleansing the body, a better word for detoxification has become common among natural health enthusiasts.
While we won’t list all the 500 functions the liver performs, it is important to note that the role of the liver is to: Store vitamins and iron, convert stored sugar to usable sugar when the body’s sugar levels fall below normal, destroy old red blood cells and produce bile to break down and digest fats.
Most importantly, the liver helps to detoxify the blood to get rid of harmful substances. These harmful substances are most commonly due to lifestyle factors such as alcohol, tobacco, beauty products, and processed and fried foods, especially when consumed in large quantities.
Other taxing chemicals are harder to avoid, like pollution, prescribed drugs, viruses, and natural by-products of metabolism. The liver requires large amounts of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) to be able to perform its processes.
In the past decade, the word ‘detox’ has become synonymous with the cayenne pepper, lemon, and maple syrup concoctions of the juice cleanse. But detoxing the liver doesn’t have to be that extreme.
Detox is essentially the process of removing toxins from the body, so the first step is to reduce your consumption of refined sugars, tobacco, alcohol, and excessive coffee.
Then by incorporating a selection of some foods into your diet, you can naturally cleanse and protect this hard-working organ. Below are some foods that can help cleanse the liver.
8 Foods to Help Cleanse Your Liver
Here is our list of foods to help cleanse your liver;
1. Tea
Tea is widely considered to be beneficial for health, but evidence has shown that it may have benefits for the liver. A study based in Japan found that drinking 5-10 cups of green tea a day was associated with improved blood markers of liver health.
This may be down to a compound known to assist liver function named catechin. Green tea is packed full of this plant antioxidant. Just be mindful of green tea extract as it can have a negative effect.
2. Cruciferous Vegetables
This includes, but is not limited to, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale. These vegetables are a major source of glutathione, which triggers the toxin cleansing enzymes of the liver.
Eating cruciferous vegetables will increase the production of glucosinolate in your system, which helps flush out carcinogens and other toxins.
3. Turmeric
In addition to its use as a spice and pigment, turmeric has been used in India for medicinal purposes for centuries. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, and it has powerful biological properties.
This spice helps the enzymes that flush out toxins and contains antioxidants that repair liver cells. It also assists the liver in detoxing metals, while boosting bile production.
4. Citrus
While also providing a big hit of vitamin C, citrus fruits stimulate the liver and aid in the synthesizing of toxic materials into substances that can be absorbed by water. Grapefruit is particularly beneficial as it contains two primary antioxidants: naringin and naringenin.
These may help protect the liver from injury by reducing inflammation and protecting the liver cells
5. Beetroot
Beets also contain vitamin C and a healthy dose of fiber which are both natural cleansers for the digestive system.
But more impressively, beets assist with increasing oxygen by cleansing the blood and can break down toxic wastes to help them be excreted quicker. They stimulate bile flow and boost enzymatic activity
6. Garlic
Garlic is loaded with sulfur, which activates liver enzymes that help your body flush out toxins. Garlic also holds high amounts of selenium. Selenium is an essential micronutrient that has been shown to help boost the natural antioxidant enzyme levels in our livers.
Supplementing with selenium gives our livers even more ammunition in the fight against the damage caused by oxidative stress.
7. Walnuts
Walnuts are a good source of glutathione, omega-3 fatty acids, and the amino acid arginine, which supports normal liver cleansing actions, especially when detoxifying ammonia.
8. Olive Oil
Although it is fat, olive oil is considered a healthy fat. Cold-pressed organic oils such as olive, hemp, and flaxseed offer great support for the liver, providing the body with a liquid base that can suck up harmful toxins in the body. It has also been shown to decrease the levels of fat in the liver
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These are the 8 foods to help cleanse Your Liver, this cleansing exercise is targeted at major organs of the body that carry out metabolic and circulatory activities such as the stomach, kidney, lungs, and most importantly the liver.
