7 Foods That Detoxify, Strengthen And Support Liver Health
Last updated on
Foods To Avoid For Liver Health
The liver has many functions, but one of the most important functions is filtering the blood. In the blood coming from the intestines, there are chemical toxins, bacteria, fungi, and partially digested foods.
Consumption of these foods over many years, cause our liver efficiency to be compromised: Alcohol, coffee, artificial food additives, preservatives, dairy products, pesticides, prescription drugs, environment toxins, high-fat foods, etc.
Read more about harmful foods.
A constipated colon further burdens the liver due to contaminated blood. Performing a complete gastrointestinal cleanse will greatly help to relieve the burden on the liver.
Detoxification BEGINS when you STOP
putting harmful foods into your body.
7 Liver Support Foods For Liver Health
When you include liver detoxifying foods in your diet, be sure that you’re also eating fiber and drinking LOTS of water. Oatmeal for breakfast is a good source of fiber.
Eating a fruit and vegetable salad is a good way to get your fiber. When eating liver-detoxifying foods, much of the toxins will be “dumped” into the digestive tract for elimination. Fiber and sufficient hydration help to move the bowel along quickly.
If bowel movements are irregular, toxins stay in the system for an unnecessarily longer period of time and get reabsorbed by the detoxifying organs. This becomes harmful instead of helping.
DO NOT eat detoxifying foods if you’re constipated/irregular and not drinking enough water. For example when drinking a beetroot juice, one may get a headache. This is a sign that your body is highly acidic and dehydrated, and a gastrointestinal cleanse may be beneficial.
2. Green Vegetables
Green vegetables are some of the best liver detoxifying foods because of the LIFE in it—chlorophyll, that acts as our internal healer, cleanser, antiseptic, cell stimulator, rejuvenator and red blood cell builder, just as it is the “lifeblood” of plants.
The LIFE in chlorophyll is wonderfully cleansing to the liver. The greener the leaves, the more concentrated the amount of chlorophyll.
Leafy green vegetables can be eaten raw, lightly cooked or juiced. You eat it for its fiber and drink of the juice for its high quality nutrients that are best absorbed in liquid form.
The green phytonutrient is highly efficient in binding with toxins, neutralizing them, increasing bile production that helps remove toxins, and eliminating them from the organs and blood system. This is why drinking green juices is very effective for cleansing and alkalizing the blood. They offer a powerful protective mechanism for the liver.
Some healthful GREEN VEGETABLES ideal for cleansing the liver: Artichoke, beet greens, bitter gourd/melon, broccoli, celery, cilantro, cucumber, dandelion greens, kale, spinach, parsley, Swiss chard, wheatgrass and barleygrass.
3. Dandelion Roots And Leaves
Dandelion has been traditionally used as a detoxifying herb and has amazing medicinal properties. It has high contents of vitamin A, C, D, and B complex, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, manganese, copper, choline, calcium, boron, and silicon.
The bitterness of dandelion helps to activate the digestive system, increase bile flow and purify the liver and gallbladder. These actions also indirectly help support the kidneys, pancreas and spleen. Dandelion root is often made into capsules, tablets, powder form, tincture or tea for easy consumption.
Noticeable health benefits of dandelion due to the liver cleansing effect:
- Reduces water retention
- Relieves skin problems like eczema and psoriasis
- Blood alkalizing
- In some cases, reduce allergies
- Improves immune system
If you’re on medication, do check with your healthcare professional before consuming dandelion in any form.
You can buy dandelion at your local health food store or buy DANDELION ROOT TEA from online here.
Beware that after drinking the tea, bowel movement may be darker than usual. This is the tea doing its work, so do not panic. Drink LOTS of water.
Beetroot contains some important phytonutrients and compounds that are beneficial for overall health, namely: betaine, betalains, betacyanin, betanin, folate and iron.
It is helpful to EAT beetroot for its fiber that contains pectin. This compound, also found in apples, is helpful in cleaning out the toxins that have been removed from the liver and flush it out of the system (with drinking sufficient water).
By DRINKING beetroot juice, the other phytonutrients are efficient in cleaning out the toxins, HEAL and protect the liver and bile ducts. By healing the liver, it indirectly helps the whole body to work more efficiently and ease many ailments, including inflammation.
If you’re unaccustomed with drinking beetroot juice, start with half a medium-sized beetroot and gradually working up to one whole beetroot. As it is very potent, take it only every other day and drink PLENTY of water to help flush out the toxins.
Juice beetroot with a slice of lemon that will help improve the taste and nutrients absorption. Here are 5 beetroot juice recipes you can try for liver detox.
Cilantro (a.k.a. coriander leaves or Chinese parsley) is an amazing herb that can detoxify heavy metal* from the liver. Adding a bunch of cilantro and a clove or two of garlic in your juice gives this effect. A masticating juicer does the work best.
Another way of using it is by juicing cilantro and adding chlorella powder into it. Make and store in a small bottle refrigerated. Take 1 tablespoon once or twice a day.
WARNING: It is very potent and may cause headache. Do not detoxify with potent foods if bowel movements are irregular. Drink LOTS of water.
* Heavy metal poisoning can be caused by lead, mercury, iron, cadmium, thallium, cobalt, copper, etc. which cannot otherwise be detoxified as effectively by other juices.
The health benefits of cilantro include protecting against bacterial/viral/fungal/yeast infection, reducing swelling, lowering blood pressure, relieving arthritis, reducing cholesterol, reducing cellulite, easing premenstrual syndrome, reducing cramps, promoting liver function, lowering blood sugar, helping with insulin secretion, and many more!
Turmeric root is a member of the ginger family and is highly beneficial for helping with digestion and cleansing the liver. It is a food that is commonly used by Asians and may be available in your local Asian market.
Turmeric has a phytonutrient called curcumin, which is a liver-protectant compound that may help to shrink engorged hepatic ducts, making it useful for treating liver conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, and jaundice.
When liver is cleansed, it will also benefit skin conditions including: eczema, psoriasis and acne, for it is a potent detoxifier.
Turmeric stimulates the production and flow of bile, and the liver uses bile to eliminate toxins; bile also rejuvenates liver cells that breakdown harmful compounds.
Other health benefits of turmeric:
- Anti-bacterial, anti-septic, anti-inflammatory
- Anti-cancer, anti-ageing
- Helps remedy diseases of the digestive tract
- Prevents oxidation of cholesterol and reducing the risks of heart diseases
- Prevents deterioration of mental performance
- Improves intestinal flora, thus the health of the gastrointestines
- Good remedy for common cold
- Relieves sinusitis
And many more!
See some suggestions here on how to add turmeric in your beverages.
Garlic is remarkable for the number of medicinal properties it contains, including 17 amino acids, at least 33 known sulphur compounds, eight minerals and the vitamins A, B1 and C. It is interesting to note that garlic DOES NOT contain the wonder compound that it is commonly known for: allicin. How can this be?
Researchers have found that a perfect clove of garlic doesn’t contain allicin, but once it is crushed, cut or ruptured, a phytochemical reaction occurs to FORM allicin.
The high sulfur content in garlic activates the enzymes responsible for flushing out toxins from the liver. It is capable of killing viruses, bacteria and fungi.
The sulphur in garlic carries oxygen in the body directly to infected areas. Germs cannot live in a body with a good supply of oxygen, therefore, infections are cleared quickly.
The outstanding medicinal properties in garlic have been proven to help protect the liver from toxic damage, aid in the detoxification process and have many health benefits. When combined with cilantro, they work synergistically in detoxifying heavy metals from the system.
As garlic is a very POTENT detoxifier, just one or two cloves in your juice daily helps to keep a healthy intestinal flora.
Some of the links I post on this site are affiliate links. If you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you). However, note that I’m recommending these products because of their quality and that I have good experience using them, not because of the commission to be made.