The liver is one of the organs that works the most in the body, due to its importance in the body’s functions, detoxifying the liver is essential to improve the quality of life. The liver is responsible for more than 500 functions, the liver plays an essential role in metabolism, the immune system, the digestive system, and the detoxification system.
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Why we need to detoxify the liver?
The liver is more commonly known as the main organ of the detoxification organs. Detox is short for detox. This is not a word or something that was made by professionals to lose weight. It is a truly vital series of processes that keep your body healthy and disease-free through the elimination of toxins. The liver filters every liter of blood there is, which means that it is working all day and all night to protect your body from the damage that toxins can do to you.
The liver is also responsible for filtering and processing all your hormones. If your liver is not working properly, it can lead to hormonal imbalances, such as excess estrogen, faulty insulin production, and much more. If it is any type of hormonal imbalance, detoxifying the liver is the most recommended.
What are toxins exactly?
Toxins are substances that can cause damage to body tissues. These are things like heavy metals, free radicals, and end products of metabolism. They can enter the body through food, air, and water, as well as being produced within your body through chemical processes. In order to protect you from toxicity and cell damage, the liver works in two phases to help cleanse the blood of toxins.
Phases to detoxify the liver.
The liver detoxifies your body in two phases.
Phase 1: In phase one, the liver will take a toxin and convert it to a less harmful toxin through oxidation, reduction, or hydrolysis. Simply put, the liver makes something that was once very toxic less toxic through a chemical reaction. This process creates other toxic by-products that must be neutralized through the ingestion of antioxidants and in the second phase of detoxification.
Phase 2: In phase two, the liver binds a regulatory molecule to the toxin, making it even less toxic. The toxin is then processed so that it becomes water soluble, which means that the body can now easily excrete it through urine. Most toxins begin their journey in a fat-soluble state that is very difficult for the body to excrete.
Both phase one and phase two of liver detox must be working optimally and in tandem for safe detoxification to occur. If you are not eating the right foods, if one of the phases is working at a faster rate than the other phase, or if you are overloading your system with toxins, you may run into problems. There are several reasons why detoxifying the liver can be a good idea.
7 reasons to detoxify the liver.
1. You eat a diet rich in saturated fat and processed fat.
If you’re eating a lot of processed foods that contain processed fats (margarine, canola oil, corn oil, and peanut oil), fried foods, or lots of non-organic animal foods, your liver will work overtime. This is because all of these foods need to be processed by the liver and they are difficult to break down and digest. They also produce a lot of toxic by-products when digested, so if this is your diet style you are a candidate for needing to detoxify the liver.
2. You eat a diet rich in processed carbohydrates.
In the same way that the liver becomes overloaded when processing fats, processed carbohydrate-rich foods such as white bread, white pasta, sugary drinks, and sweets all require extra effort from your liver to keep your blood sugar levels low. stable blood, as well as to eliminate the toxic substances that these foods contain. Eating a diet rich in processed carbohydrates will mean that your liver is being overloaded and you will need a detox.
3 . Alcohol or prescription drug use.
The liver has to filter every single substance you eat, and alcohol and medications are some of the hardest to filter. Consuming too many of these substances over a period of time can lead to liver damage, including fatty liver or cirrhosis of the liver. These substances can actually inhibit the proper functioning of your liver, making it toxic.
4. You breathe polluted air.
The air you breathe can be amazing and pure, or heavy and full of pollutants. If you live in a city exposed to car exhaust, air conditioning, cleaning products, secondhand (or firsthand) smoke, and other industrial by-products, your liver may need a boost. All toxins that you breathe in through your lungs must pass through your liver to be processed. This means that toxic air can lead to an overloaded liver.
5 . You don’t get enough sleep and rest.
For the liver to perform optimally, you need to be getting enough sleep. The liver is most active between 1 and 3 in the morning. If you’re not going to bed early enough to get deep sleep by the time your liver kicks in, you may not have the time or space it needs to do its job properly. Adequate rest is essential for optimal liver function.
6. You exercise too much.
This may come as a surprise, but did you know that exercising causes free radicals to be produced? Now, this is not to say that you shouldn’t exercise in order to avoid free radical production. On the contrary, being active is essential to pump your blood and lymph to move through the liver more efficiently, which supports the detoxification process.
However, when you are exercising too much, you will start to overproduce free radicals that the liver may not have the resources to deal with properly and in a timely manner. If you are past or past training, you may need to take a break and give your liver some love.
7. You eat an overall nutrient-poor diet.
The two phases of detoxification of the liver respond to essential nutrients to facilitate its function. For example, the first phase relies on a stable supply of vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B3 and B6, and vitamin E, just to name a few. The second phase requires that the person is ingesting many sources of essential amino acids such as glycine and taurine, as well as calcium.
If you have been eating a diet that is low in nutrition (i.e., a diet rich in processed foods, or a diet that does not provide adequate food and calories in general) it may be necessary to detoxify the liver, because there is a possibility that be invaded by toxins that you are unable to cope with due to lack of nutrients.
3 Healthy and rich recipes to detoxify the liver.
If you feel like your liver might need a boost, try adding one of these recipes to your daily diet for a few weeks.
1. Beetroot/beet juice to boost liver.
- 1 beet.
- 1 carrot.
- 1 lemon peeled.
- 1 handful of parsley.
Instructions: Put all the ingredients through a juicer and enjoy.
2. Intense green juice to detoxify the liver.
- 1/2 cucumber.
- 2 cups kale collard greens.
- 1 lime, peeled.
- 1 cup of chard.
- 1/2 lemon peeled.
Instructions: Put all the ingredients through a juicer and enjoy.
3 . Citrus juice to detoxify the liver.
- 2 peeled oranges.
- 1/2 stalk of celery.
- 1 lemon peeled.
- 1/2 cup dandelion leaves (or another bitter green leaf).
- 1/2 cup of parsley.
Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Foods that help detoxify the liver.
- Beets.
- Carrots.
- Lemons.
- Limes.
- Dark green leafy vegetables.
- Rich foods like onion and garlic.
- Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.
It is always a good idea to consult with a naturopathic physician, herbalist, or other qualified healthcare professional before beginning to use herbs as a treatment plan to detoxify the liver.
Beet root: Taken as a supplement, beet root can help cleanse the liver of impurities.
Bitter herb: It will help your liver to produce bile, an essential function in the digestion of fats. These herbs can help support overall liver function.
Burdock root: Burdock root is a very bitter root that is a powerful blood purifier. This will help support your liver in its work of filtering the blood.
Dandelion Root: Dandelion root works to support liver cleansing.
Milk thistle: Milk thistle can work to cleanse and repair liver tissues. This is one of the most common of the liver support herbs.