Liver is one the most important and second largest organ of your body. It has over 500 functions. It acts as a filtration station for your body. It takes in all the good nutrients and removes the toxic substances. And for most people, since their diet is made up of a lot of processed foods and artificial ingredients, the liver has to work extra hard in order to function properly.
So you might be wondering if it’s even possible to cleanse the liver?
So answer to your question is YES. You can cleanse your liver.
So if you have bad liver or if it’s congested then most likely you will experience these:
Sluggishness
Tiredness
Lack of energy
Skin discolouration
Improper digestion
Headaches
Pain on the right side of the body
Hormone Imbalance
So I know a lot of you guys will think I ain’t got no time for taking care of my liver. But your future self will thank me because when you start taking care of your liver than not only these symptoms will go away but it will also give you healthy lifestyle.
So how to take care of your liver?
Well we can avoid certain habits to keep our liver healthy.
Things to Avoid
1. Smoking
This goes without saying that smoking or any form of drug intake is going to drastically damage your liver. It not only affects your physical health in terms of appearance but also on your organs which can some cases be irreversible.
2. Alcohol
It is a toxin and it will make your liver do extra work to purify the blood and help get rid of that toxin for you.
3. Animal fats and vegetable oils
Avoid these especially corn and soy. These will clog up your arteries and makes liver do extra work. And sometimes liver is not able to break them down that efficiently. So it’s better to avoid them.
We now know the things that we should avoid. So lets find out what things we can do for the betterment of our liver.
Things to do for a Healthy Liver:
1. Eat Green Leafy Vegetables
Green leafy vegetables are healthy foods that we should all strive to consume in our daily diet. But also try to eat as much organic as you can.
I know it is little bit difficult for everyone to eat organic all the time and also it gets quite expensive. But when you can and if you can than try to eat organic. You can eat leafy green vegetables especially broccoli, cabbage, brussels, sprouts, kale, spinach, bok choy.
All these contains components that helps to protect your liver but also at the same time fuel the liver to eliminate toxins and excess hormones. These foods contain compounds that help the liver in breaking down the larger molecules into smaller substances. This way the body can easily flush the toxins out of the system.
2. Drink Water
The next thing is obviously to drink a lot of water. Water will not only flush out the toxins but it actually contains natural minerals. So what you can do is add little lemon to the water. This increases the alkaline level which also helps to eliminate toxins in the liver and for better functioning.
3. Sleep early
I can not stress more how much sleep is important to recover your body and for better functioning. So according to the Chinese meridian clock approximately from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM is when your liver is at the highest activity time.
So in order to allow your liver to do detoxification or rejuvenation during those time, you allow your body to rest. And when your body is resting, it has enough energy to do the detox.
4. Increase the intake of Fibre
Fibre helps our body to digest the food that we eat and helps in getting rid of toxins from the body. But unfortunately, the food that we eat is ripped of the essential nutrients so our liver does not get the required fibre. This causes the accumulation of toxins in our liver
5. Drink Green Tea
Make a habit of drinking green tea. Green tea contains Catechins that serve as an antioxidant for the liver.
6. Add Garlic to your diet
Garlic is known for its health benefits. It is rich in amino acids and components that help the liver by activating certain enzymes to remove toxin from the body. Selenium is another beneficial ingredient present in garlic that acts as an antioxidant. You don’t have to do anything extra, just add garlic to your diet while cooking is a great way to give your liver detoxifying effect.
7. Increase the Intake of Vitamin C
Most of us know how good vitamin C is for strengthening our immune system. But did you know that it is also good for your liver. Now you got one more reason to add vitamin C intake in your diet.
All you have to do is simply eat citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Eating these foods will help your body with antioxidants that help to cleanse your liver in a natural way. Vitamin C has one more amazing benefit that it helps in producing enzymes that can help eliminate toxins.
8. Add Turmeric to Your Diet
Turmeric is a common spices in India and is known for many health benefits. However it’s therapeutic properties have only been discovered over recent years. It is also believed that adding turmeric to your diet can promote the growth of new cells in the liver.
In India it is used as the necessary spice in almost all the veggies while cooking. You can also add it in milk and make a turmeric milk which is also very beneficial for our health.
9. Add Nuts to your Diet
Nuts are high in amino acid and protein and are known to have a beneficial effect on the liver. Walnuts, in particular, are high in arginine and Omega-3 fatty acids. Both of these are helpful in cleansing and detoxifying the liver.
You just need a handful of these nuts to provide your body with the compounds it needs in order to improve the health of your liver. But always try to eat the organic ones cause other alternatives or processed ones sometimes have other added ingredients.