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The liver is responsible for flushing out harmful toxins from your body. It also processes food, produces bile, and regulates blood sugar levels, among several other functions. Given its importance in your body's healthy functioning, keeping it healthy is essential.
One of the ways to do so is to consume foods that are rich in nutrients and will help to maintain your liver health. This piece brings you the best foods that are good for the liver. If you want to know about them, keep scrolling!
Listed below are the best foods for maintaining your liver health. Take a look -
Coffee is one of the best beverages that maintain a healthy liver. Drinking coffee helps to lower the risk of developing common liver cancer. This beverage also has a positive impact on inflammation and other liver diseases.
Furthermore, it has also been proven to reduce the risk of death among people with severe liver diseases. In this regard, patients drinking a minimum of three cups of coffee per day have shown significant benefits. These health benefits of coffee in maintaining a healthy liver arise from its ability to restrict the buildup of collagen and fat, the main cause of liver disease.
Besides, coffee maximises the glutathione levels in the body, which further neutralises free radicals that damage cells.
Grapefruit has antioxidants that help to protect the liver naturally. There are mainly two antioxidants found in a grapefruit - naringin and naringenin. These antioxidants help to lower inflammation and protect cells.
Green tea contains catechins, a type of antioxidant. It helps to protect against certain types of cancer, including the liver. You can reap the health benefits of this antioxidant if you brew green and drink it hot, as ready-to-drink and iced green teas contain much lower amounts of catechins.
Several dark berries, including raspberries, blueberries, and cranberries, have antioxidants known as polyphenols. These antioxidants prevent the liver from being damaged.
This is one of the best foods to improve your liver health. It is a kind of edible cactus. Traditionally it has been used to treat liver diseases. According to an article released in the US Library of Medicine, the juice of prickly pear helps to lower the oxidative damage to the liver caused after drinking alcohol.
Another article released in Scientific America analysed a study where 55 healthy participants were provided either with a placebo or prickly pear juice five hours before drinking alcohol. The outcome showed that those who consumed the prickly pear juice experienced lower amounts of C-reactive protein, which is often associated with inflammation. Such subjects also experienced less drastic hangovers after consuming alcohol.
Grapes, especially the ones with dark purple and red colours, are rich in antioxidants, including resveratrol. These antioxidants reduce inflammation significantly.
Besides the flesh of grapes, their seeds also benefit the liver. As per the study released in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, grape seed helps to deter liver damage.
At the same time, a smaller study found that adding grape seed extracts into the diets of patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease for 3 months improved the functioning of their livers.
Beetroot juice contains betalains and nitrates, which maintain heart health, and lowers oxidative damage and inflammation in the liver. Consuming beetroot juice further increases the liver's natural detoxification enzymes.
Nuts are a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients such as vitamin E, antioxidants, and plant compounds. This combination provides several benefits for the liver, as it helps to prevent NAFLD and lowers oxidative damage and inflammation.
Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and mustard greens, have high fibre and beneficial plant compounds. Besides, they also have carotenoids, phytonutrients, and flavonoids that neutralise toxins.
Furthermore, these vegetables also have glucosinolates. These sulphur-rich compounds break down into metabolites that activate certain enzymatic reactions that detoxify heavy metals and carcinogens from the bloodstream. Among these cruciferous vegetables, broccolis are sources of vitamin E, an essential antioxidant required for a healthy liver.
You can replace less healthy cooking oils with olive oil as it helps to lower oxidative stress and promotes healthy liver functioning. This is because olive oil has a high amount of unsaturated fats, which helps to improve liver function.
Eating fatty fish may reduce the negative impact of conditions like NAFLD. This is due to its high content of omega-3 fatty acids that helps to lower inflammation. These fatty acids further prevent the formation of excess fats and control enzyme levels in the liver.
Oats contain beta-glucan, which is a type of soluble fibre that promotes the healthy functioning of the liver. You must include steel-cut or whole oats instead of instant oatmeal to get the maximum nutritional benefits.
Garlic contains vitamin C, allicin, selenium, and vitamin B6, which help to detoxify the liver. For example, selenium is a detoxifying mineral that triggers the antioxidants' functions and reduces stress in the liver.
A well-balanced diet is the best possible way to remain healthy. A healthy diet means foods low in fat, salt, and sugar but high in fibre, vitamins, proteins and minerals. Therefore, unhealthy dietary choices such as consuming too much sugar and foods rich in facts can negatively impact your body and liver health.
For example, high consumption of fats and sugar hamper the functioning of the liver. This results in the accumulation of fats and causes a metabolic syndrome that includes high sugar and cholesterol levels. It also increases the risk of developing liver cirrhosis and cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to consume nutritional foods to keep your liver healthy.
These foods include fast foods, fried foods and takeout meals from restaurants. Besides, consuming packaged chips and snacks is not advisable as they have high amounts of fats and can deteriorate your liver health.
These foods are low in fibre and include pasta, highly processed bread, cakes and other baked foods.
Reducing sugar in your diet means lowering consumption of both sugar and sugar-rich foods which include cereals, candies, and baked foods. Lowering the consumption of sugar will help to decrease stress on the liver.
You must also lower your salt consumption. Some of the easy ways to do the same are to lower the habit of eating outside, avoiding salted bacon and deli meats and canned vegetables and meat.
You must reduce or eliminate the alcohol from your diet completely, as excessive intake can hamper your liver functioning.
To conclude, the liver is one of the most crucial organs in a body and is responsible for performing a minimum of 500 functions to keep a body healthy. Therefore, include these foods that are good for the liver in your diet and enjoy a healthy life.
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