Sitting right above your stomach, the Liver is the biggest gland in the body.

It might sound like an exaggeration but your liver does perform over 500 functions, making it the hardest working organ of your biological system.

Working round the clock like a mean machine, it helps the body get rid of toxins.

You can call it the body’s very own filtration system, which converts toxins into waste products, detoxifies the blood, and metabolizes nutrients and medications.

All things that your body doesn’t require are flushed out through the liver.  

Besides purging toxins, the liver also produces the bile required to digest fat, break down hormones, keep the digestive system strong, and store essential vitamins, minerals and iron.

With detoxifying the whole body, the liver is capable of self-cleanse naturally.

However, when the environment in the body becomes overtly toxic, the mechanism for detoxification in the liver gets sluggish.

If the situation lingers on, it can make us sick and disrupts normal metabolism.

It can also lead to inflammation, fluid retention, and bloating in the body.

 We are constantly faced with so many environmental toxins occurring in our homes, offices, and food supply.

More often than not, these toxins get better of our liver, which results in impaired liver function.

There are a variety of different symptoms that you can experience when the liver is not in its best shape.

These symptoms include PMS, headache, bloating, constipation, acid reflux, dark urine, chronic fatigue, poor appetite, anxiety, and depression.

It is important to note that liver issues don’t only occur in people who drink alcohol.

They can also occur in people with a poor diet, on prescription medications or antibiotics, exposed to air pollution & environmental toxins, and people who are over stressed. And this pretty much covers everyone.

We cannot control all pollutants and toxins in our environment but we can definitely make strategic dietary and lifestyle shifts to counter their effects by assisting the liver’s detoxification pathways.

To lessen the toxic load, liver detox is an excellent idea.

Whether you call it a liver detox or cleanse, helping this vital organ is important, especially in the case of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

While alcohol gets all the bad rep for fatty liver, NAFLD is caused due to the build-up of extra fat in liver cells.

Obesity, insulin resistance, and a diet high in triglycerides are some of the reasons behind NAFLD.

It is normal for the liver to contain some fat. However, if more than 5% – 10% percent of the liver’s weight is fat, it is called a fatty liver (steatosis).

The more severe form of NAFLD is known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

NASH causes the liver to swell and become damaged.

To counter this, a diet rich in fiber sourced from fruit, veggies, and whole grains is considered to be liver-friendly.

If you have been wondering how to do a liver-cleanse without losing your mind over it, then we have got it all laid out for you.

Here is how you can detoxify your liver naturally and help it get back on track:

‍Factors that cause NAFLD:

1. Diabetes
2. Obesity
3. High cholesterol levels
4. High triglyceride levels
5. Excessive use of antibiotics
6. Poor eating habits
7. Sudden weight loss or weight gain

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4 Symptoms of Sluggish Liver Function

Bloating and constipation:

When your liver is overstressed, your digestive system goes for a toss.

Digestive problems like bloating or constipation can occur due to an overworked liver, which is no less than a digestive control center of the body.

Dark urine and yellow skin:

The yellow discoloration of skin and dark urine usually occurs in jaundice when the levels of bilirubin in your bloodstream are abnormally high.

This happens when the liver cannot metabolize the blood cells as they break down, which leads to a buildup of bilirubin and ultimately, jaundice.

Hormonal imbalances:

The liver assists the natural hormonal balance in the body.

It is responsible for breaking down and removing excess hormones.

So when the liver isn’t functioning properly, you can experience hormonal imbalances that lead to issues like mood swings, anxiety, depression, and PMS symptoms.

Fatigue:

‍ Feeling tired all the time is a common symptom for people with NAFLD.

When toxic substances build up in your body due to malfunctioning liver, you may experience fatigue or cognitive issues such as mood swings and confusion.

8 Foods for Liver Detox:

1. Herbs: Milk Thistle, Raw Turmeric & Dandelion Root

Considered as the ‘king’ of detoxifying herbs, Milk Thistle helps to eliminate the build-up of medications and pollutants in the liver.

Turmeric is known to be an effective antidepressant, which supports healthy liver tissues and metabolism.

On the other hand, dandelion root has a natural diuretic effect, helping your liver to more swiftly eliminate toxins.

2. Emulsified Fats: Coconut oil & Ghee

Ghee gets broken down quickly and absorbs toxins from the body.

This aids in the fast removal of these toxins from the body.

The same goes for coconut oil.

Both don’t require the liver to produce enzymes to digest them.

3. Garlic

Loaded with sulphur, eating garlic can help activate the liver detox enzymes, which help your body flush out toxins.

The high amounts of Selenium in garlic help boost the natural antioxidant enzyme levels in the liver.  

4. Citrus fruits & Green Vegetables

There is reason sipping on lemon water and eating spinach is integral to a liver detox diet!

Green vegetables are the primary source of glutathione, which triggers the toxin cleansing enzymes of the liver. Citrus fruits like lemons, tangerines, and oranges contain a compound called D-limonene, which has been shown to help slow oxidative damage to the liver because of a high-fat diet.

5. Gluten-free grains

For individuals intolerant or allergic to gluten, gluten consumption can lead to inflammation and digestive damage. This could leak toxins, undigested food, or pathogens into the bloodstream and eventually to the liver, causing liver distress. Eliminating gluten in such cases is helpful.

6. Wheatgrass

Antioxidants and chlorophyll in wheatgrass help in supporting liver health and aids in detox by reducing oxidative stress and free radical damage

7. Add Potassium Rich foods

Potassium-rich foods help cleanse the liver, lower cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure and support a healthy cardiovascular system. Foods rich in potassium are Banana, Sweet Potato, Tomato, Coconut water, beetroot, etc.

8. Water

Is there anything that water can do? The liver is responsible for flushing out toxins from the body and water aids the liver with this process. It also keeps the body hydrated.  

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‍6 Signs of Healthy Liver:

1. Your skin glows: Liver is in charge of detoxifying our system, and when it works at its optimal best, the skin starts radiating with health.
2. You feel more energetic: A sluggish liver often results in lower energy. So when it’s healthy, you experience high energy levels.
3. Your mood is in a perfect symphony: If the liver is working overtime, this can impact your mood and cognitive abilities. Happy liver translates into high spirits.
4. You have a normal range of blood pressure: Better liver function means a better balance between the good and bad cholesterol that can help in stabilizing the blood pressure.
5. You have good immunity: The liver is one of the first organs to pick up any bad bugs entering our system, so if not getting sick often and recovering well when you do, it’s doing a good job.
6. Your cholesterol is in control: Liver’s role is to produce and manage the cholesterol in our body, so if our cholesterol is normal then it generally means the liver is healthy.

If you're interested in joining our Liver Detox program to heal your liver, Check out our Liver Healing Program

Cheers,

Lovneet