The liver is one of the most important body organs, and it works hard to remove the accumulated toxins and waste from the body.
Its primary function is to convert toxins into waste in order to be removed through the urine.
The liver performs more than 400 other functions as well, including storing the important vitamins and minerals, digesting fats, processing nutrients, and breaking down alcohol and drugs. In the case of a deficiency of some of the essential nutrients, it might become sluggish.
The detoxification of the body by the liver is done in two phases. Initially, the liver, with the help of enzymes, converts the toxins from being poisonous and damaging for cells to less harmful substances.
In the second phase, it pairs the toxins with other molecules to make them water-soluble and they can be safely removed from the body.
Unfortunately, we are constantly being exposed to toxins from the environment, from fabrics, cars, air, plastic, water, factories, and other factors. Even If you lead a healthy lifestyle, drink pure water, consume organic foods, and use products free of toxins, you cannot completely avoid this exposure.
In the case of a sluggish liver, the toxins begin to accumulate and get stored as a fat tissue. The toxins will not be removed until the proper function of the liver is restored, meaning that it may sometimes be the reason why you cannot lose weight.
Fortunately, people usually experience numerous warning signs when the liver is stressed, so they can take some preventive measures and try to improve its function and prevent additional damage.
These are the most common signs of a sluggish liver:
- Chronic fatigue
- Excessive perspiration
- Sudden weight gain
- Difficulty digesting fats
- Diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, gas
- Negative emotions
- Feeling drained/Lethargy/Brain Fog
- Migraines/headaches behind the eyes
- Skin issues or acne
- Depression and anxiety
- Dull headaches improved with sleep
- Chronic bad breath
- Hormonal imbalances
- Removed gall bladder
- Chronic Muscle or Joint Pain
- Chemical sensitivities
If you experience these symptoms, you should consider implementing some major changes in your lifestyle and diet. First of all, you should create healthy habits and consume balanced meals.
You should eliminate the intake of processed foods and unhealthy products, and start eating healthy.
The following tips will be of great help:
- Avoid GMO and consume only organic foods
- Avoid refined sugars such as white/brown sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar, cane juice, and cane juice crystals
- Reduce the amount or completely avoid alcohol.
- Drink lots of water
- Your diet should be balanced, and involve healthy fats, fermented foods, high-quality plant and animal proteins, seeds, whole foods, sprouted ancient grains, and raw nuts.
- Increase the intake of leafy green vegetables as they are high in B vitamins, vitamin C, folate, and magnesium
- Be careful not to consume more than 20-25g of fructose on a daily basis.
- Avoid inflammatory oils such as soybean, vegetable oil, corn, canola, cotton seeds, sunflower, safflower
- You should include Plant-based and Animal-based sources for Amino Acids such as parsley, beets, cabbage, raw spinach, bone broth, pasture-raised eggs and chicken.
- Consume garlic, kale, onions, broccoli, pasture-raised eggs, Brussels sprouts, asparagus to increase the sulfur intake.
- You should consume at least 35g of fiber daily, from sources such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, avocado, artichokes, chia seeds, golden flax seeds.
- Focus on healthy healing fats such as ghee, coconut oil, sustainable red palm oil, grass-fed butter, hem and avocado
The following three foods are the best ones you can use to restore the optimal function of your liver:
This is the best herb to protect the liver. Its active ingredient, silymarin, has potent antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-fibrotic properties, and prevents liver damage due to drugs, alcohol, viruses, and toxins.
Curcumin, its active ingredient, offers countless health benefits, and prevents damage to the liver, and regenerates damaged liver cells due to the powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. To help its absorption, consume it paired with black pepper.
It is a member of the thistle family and effectively improves the function of the liver. It also stimulates the production of bile and reduces the LDL cholesterol. Even when cooked, artichokes are higher in oxidants than raw garlic, broccoli, and asparagus.