The liver is among the 10 most essential organs in your body. As such, it's vital to maintain its good health in order for our bodies to function smoothly and properly.
But what does the liver do, exactly? Most of us know it as something that properly regulates how normal and healthy our stools look — and while that's true, it is responsible for so much more.
The liver is one of the most diligent components in your body. It processes anything and everything you eat and drink, filters and distributes nutrients, and eliminates waste.
In an exclusive guide below, we go through some of the highly recommended ways you can keep your liver clean and healthy.
One of the most effective steps is to focus on eating healthily. "Because the liver stores most of our nutrients, anything bad you consume will be associated with potential for damage," Dr. Timothy T. Nostrant, M.D., told Everyday Health.
Scroll further to see other simple ways you can keep your liver in check, and let us know how you plan on keeping yourself healthy this cold holiday season!
1. Avoid Foods That Say 'Low-Fat'
In general, it's important to read the food labels when you're at the supermarket — especially when you're buying processed foods.
Look out for anything that has a high sugar content, an imbalanced proportion of fructose, additives, and damaged fats.
But above all, look out for labels that say, "Low in calories," "fat-free," or "99% lower in fat."
These foods usually have their fats removed, but have loads more sugar added to maintain their tastiness.
Usually, these unwanted additives will only exacerbate issues you're having with your liver.
2. Avoid Eating When You Feel Stressed
It can certainly be hard to stay away from snacks when you're feeling stressed — or even just bored and unenergized.
But it's crucial to remind yourself not to binge eat or overeat when you're feeling stressed.
During times of stress, your body's energy is not spent on strengthening areas like the liver and digestive tracks.
Therefore, it can be harder for your liver to filter and destroy the bacteria and viruses that will quickly enter the body with your food, according to Return 2 Health.
3. Try Special Herbs And Roots
Many people dismiss the powers of special roots and herbs, because it can sound a little mysterious.
However, many herbs — like dandelion root, milk thistle, and turmeric — have proven abilities to support the liver.
Other roots and herbs that will benefit liver health include globe artichoke, greater celandine, chicory, and even peppermint.
These food sources help restore liver cells, protect your organs from free-radical damage, stimulate bile flow, and reduce inflammation.
4. Take The Right Supplements
You might already be taking a variety of supportive vitamins and minerals. But there are some that give you more of a boost in detoxifying the liver.
Opt for B complex vitamins and vitamin C, which effectively cleanse the liver.
Amino acids — which can be derived from high-quality proteins — also help remove toxins from the liver, as do Omega-3 fatty acids.
5. Beware Of Certain Medicines
Certain medicines — including painkillers like Tylenol, as well as cholesterol medications — can damage your liver if you take too much.
Watch out for acetaminophen, which, according to WebMD, can be stored in cold medicines, prescription pain medicines, and hundreds of other common drugs.
And, of course, take precautions to not drink alcohol when you take medicine. Some drugs can be harmful when taken together, so definitely double-check with your doctor to know how to take your medicine safely.
6. Drink Coffee
The debate surrounding coffee is an old and contentious one. However, many studies have shown that drinking coffee can actually have wonderful health benefits.
Firstly, it can help lower your risk of getting liver disease, according to a report published by the World Cancer Research Fund.
Consistent coffee drinkers can hope to lower their risk by as much as 14 percent.
"Both coffee and coffee extracts have… been shown to reduce the expression of genes involved in inflammation, and the effects appear to be most pronounced in the liver," said the report.
7. Don't Touch Toxins
Having dangerous toxins to the skin can be incredibly detrimental to your liver, because the skin absorbs pretty much everything into the bloodstream. Every component goes through and has to be flushed out of the body by the liver.
Therefore, don't come in direct contact with toxins, which are found commonly in cleaning products, aerosol products, insecticides, and ingredients in cigarettes.
When possible, choose to use chemical-free products, and natural shampoos, household cleaning products, and cleaners, according to WebMD.
8. Get Protein From Plant-Based Foods
It can be hard to pick the right foods all the time.
But according to Everyday Health, if you keep these three nutritional guidelines in mind, you'll be far better off:
- Get as much protein as you can from plant-based sources.
- Buy natural and organic foods whenever you can.
- Reduce fat in your diet.
Why is plant-derived protein better than animal protein, you might ask?
Well, for one, plants offer more antioxidants, fiber, minerals, and vitamins than most meats ever will. Humans also need to regularly absorb the nine essential amino acids that our bodies can't make, and some plant-based foods, like quinoa and buckwheat, have all of them.
Lastly, animal protein comes with a lot of unwanted baggage: it can be loaded with saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones, and added antibiotics.
Nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, leafy green veggies, and lentils are all great places to get protein.
9. Go Easy On The Booze
While there are many things that can cause liver disease, one of them is ingesting alcohol to excess. This is what's called "alcoholic liver disease."
Although scientists and doctors can never be 100 percent sure why alcohol is so directly linked to liver damage, they've reported on two factors: toxins that get into your gut, and something called "oxidative stress."
Alcohol can hurt our intestine, which then lets toxins from the bacteria in our gut travel into the liver.
In addition, oxidative stress, or the process in which our liver breaks down the alcohol, can cause a chemical reaction that will damage the liver's cells, leading to inflammation and scarring.
10. Choose The Right Healthy Fats
Healthy fats are much better than artificial trans fats, which are made in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oils.
The good thing is, you can get healthy fats from both plant- and non-plant-based foods.
Try eating more avocados, pumpkin seeds, olives, walnuts, and similar foods to help with digestion and bile production.
Keep in mind that many oils can make it hard for the liver to process and break down into nutrients, according to One Green Planet.
Many of these healthy foods have components that help detoxify the liver and filter harmful substances that penetrate it.
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