If you want to have a healthy life, it is CRUCIAL to take good care of your liver.
Our health is very dependent on our ability to properly remove and purge toxins, and for this, our liver plays a huge role.
Our liver – the second largest organ in our body - works hard every day to protect us from the many toxins we are exposed to.
Luckily, the liver is highly resilient and the only organ that can regenerate itself. That being said, its ability to repair itself can be hampered by factors such as poor nutrition, excessive alcohol, and a sedentary lifestyle. For ex., malnutrition can result in a deficiency of essential nutrients that is needed for our metabolic processes and to fight inflammation (both linked to our liver). That’s why making better lifestyle and dietary choices is the most important step towards maintaining optimal liver function and ultimately, optimal overall health.
First, let me share a little info on the liver so you understand why it’s so important to give it love. Our liver does over 500 critical jobs in the body, including:
It metabolizes toxins, including alcohol and drugs into their inactive metabolites and helps expel remaining toxins from our bodies
It produces bile – a product that helps break down fats for absorption as well as carry waste to be eliminated
It converts harmful ammonia – a byproduct of protein metabolism – to a safer form, urea
It stores many nutrients – glycogen; fatty acids; vitamins A, D, E, K and B12; iron and copper – to provide a constant supply of these essential substances to the body
It also metabolizes carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into usable forms
It stores and releases glucose to regulate blood sugar levels
It regulates most chemical levels in the blood
It helps the body fight infections by producing immune cells and removing pathogens
It produces cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats throughout the body
It stores iron and processes hemoglobin to use its iron
In summary, our liver removes all toxins, clears medications from your body, breaks down our food so we can properly process it, and even helps us with hormone regulation. If our liver stopped working, toxins would accumulate, we wouldn’t be able to digest food and medications would never leave our bodies. But even before that point, we can suffer many negative consequences from a sluggish or unhealthy liver.
Some signs that your liver may need a little more love and attention include:
Gas, bloating and/or constipation, as well as acid reflux and heartburn
Difficulty losing weight / resistant to weight change
Low energy, moodiness, anxiety or depression
Excessive sweating, and/or dark urine
Rosacea, skin rashes, and other similar skin conditions; also yellowish skin and eyes (from jaundice)
Consistent Sugar cravings
Strong sensitivity to chemicals
High blood pressure
If you have any of the above conditions/symptoms, its imperative that you pay close attention to what I’m sharing!
How do we protect our liver? Our daily diet and lifestyle can do wonders to keep our liver happy and healthy!
Here are my 10 most important steps to take to better care for your liver:
1. Eat a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet filled with “liver superfoods” and stay hydrated.
Drink LOTS of water upon waking and throughout your day. Water helps flush the kidneys and bowels to enhance elimination. Organic coffee and green tea (in small amounts) can also be great for liver health!
Eat the rainbow, filling your plate with colorful vegetables, fruits and other plant based foods rich in antioxidants. Berries, beets and apples are 3 big liver superfoods!
Eat lots of Fiber with each meal, and consider additional fiber supplements away from food, too. Fiber helps to bind toxins and remove them from your body.
Fill up on Dark Leafy Greens, especially bitter greens like chicory, dandelion, endive – which help stimulating bile from the liver. Aim to have a serving daily.
Onions and Garlic are also liver superfoods, whose sulfur and antioxidants help our liver detoxify excess hormones, food additives and mercury.
Artichokes are also great as they support bile production. Eat these regularly!
Eat plenty of Cruciferous Vegetables – like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage – as they help our liver to detoxify and neutralize toxins.
Consume Probiotics and probiotic rich foods such as raw sauerkraut, kimchi and plain Greek yogurt. In supporting our gut health they also support our liver!
Focus on (whole-food) Healthy Fats such as fatty fish, avocados, olives, nuts and seeds. Eat at least one of these foods daily.
Swap refined seed oils (soybean, canola/rapeseed, sunflower and safflower, corn and peanut oils) for cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and even small amounts of organic coconut oil and ghee.
Eat Potassium-rich foods regularly – such as sweet potatoes, bananas, beans, beet greens and spinach - which help lower systolic blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, support a healthy cardiovascular system, and help cleanse our liver.
Turmeric is a powerful root/spice to protect against liver damage and increase natural production of bile. Consider adding a pinch of turmeric and black pepper to your meals once a day.
Drinking Dandelion root tea is also amazing in supporting our liver’s detoxification! I enjoy it after lunch with a splash of almond milk and it actually tastes like coffee; try it if you haven’t already!
Be mindful of your meat and dairy consumption. If possible, eat only grass-fed red meat and organic dairy (if you tolerate it), being mindful of portions.
Avoid highly processed foods and refined sugar – including processed meats, packaged foods with lots of preservatives, sodium and/or sugar, as well as foods high in saturated fat, trans-fat, and simple sugars, such as fast food.
2. Wash your fruits/vegetables very well and opt for ORGANIC produce whenever possible.
3. Be mindful when taking medications. Read ALL ingredients, side effects, and do your research first. NOTE: watch out for Acetaminophen, an ingredient that is in over 600 drugs including cold and flu medicines; be careful not to overdo it. Statins for high cholesterol, many antibiotics and even antiacids are other examples of drugs that can be harsh on your liver. Find out about holistic healing remedies that you can approach before taking the medications.
4. Exercise daily. This can include just a quick 15 minute walk, but move your body as much as possible and consistently. I personally recommend adding 1-2 yoga classes per week to help with natural detoxification. Certain twist positions in yoga are designed purely to enhance blood flow to and from the liver improving its function. NOTE: Regular exercise improves how your insulin works and burns triglycerides, AND it can help you maintain an ideal BMI – all of which are key for a healthy liver (and to lower your chances of fatty liver disease).
5. Limit your alcohol intake – especially if you have any family history of liver and/or heart complications, and even more so if you take medications. NOTE: When you drink, your liver stops doing other things so it can break down the alcohol and remove it from your blood. If you overdo it (considered generally more than a drink a day for women, two a day for men), it’s really hard on the organ and often leads to “fatty liver.” It can also lead to gut issues, which can ultimately damage your liver, too
6. Beware of toxins in your household and daily care. These might be chemicals in cleaning products, spray cans/aerosols, insecticides and pesticides, excess heavy metals, teflons in cookware, BPAs in plastics, and excess synthetic fragrances in almost all household items. Also in your skin care, limit the amount of potentially harmful chemicals. READ HERE for more info on “detoxing” your home/self-care products and more, HERE for better alternatives to plastic, and HERE for more tips on choosing nontoxic cookware.
7. Get adequate good quality sleep. Eating dinner no later than 7pm can be very helpful to both your sleep and liver (or at least finishing dinner 3 hours before you go to bed). Generally the liver works hardest between 11pm and 3am, so you want your body to be fully finished digesting your food before 11pm. Here are 12 tips for a better sleep, and a great example of a perfect dinner for getting proper sleep.
8. Reduce stress and cortisol levels. Stress negatively affects the liver (regardless of what type of stress you’re facing). As a starting point, try to adapt some form of (regular) meditation or breathing exercises. Working to manage your major stressors of course is also key. Read more HERE about reducing oxidative stress, and more generally 17 tips ro reduce stress overall.
9. Be proactive to minimize your risk of getting hepatitis:
Wash your hands always.
Practice safe sex.
Get vaccinated!
10. Do a safe food-based detox - that helps support phase 1 and phase 2 of detoxification - at least once a year. NOTE: Even though we can't control 100% of our exposure to pollutants and chemicals, we can make strategic diet and lifestyle shifts, and do supportive gentle “detoxes” that help counter the effects of these toxins by supporting the liver's detoxification pathways and lightening our overall toxic load. Explore more on my 7 day detox and 10 day detoxes!