20 Of The Best Foods And Herbs For A Healthy Liver

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Our livers are something no one gives a second thought to until there is a problem. If you imagine that your body is a giant fish tank. Your liver would be the water filter, and you, friend, are the fish. Now imagine that someone dumps a bunch of junk and chemicals in the water, in addition to the leftover food and feces. Imagine that the filter (your liver) gets so clogged up that it can no longer clean the water, or can barely function. Imagine how long that little fishy (you) is going to be able to live in that polluted water.

This scenario illustrates clearly how important your liver is, not only to your health, but to your very life. One of the good things about our livers is that they have the ability to regenerate themselves and to repair minor damage. There are a number of foods and herbs that Mother Nature put on this planet that support liver health, enable the liver to cleanse itself, and regenerate itself should it become impaired.

Your liver produces bile, a detoxifying compound that breaks down and then removes toxins from the body. Bile is also indispensable for breaking down fats in your food. Every single organ in the body relies on the liver for their health and proper functioning. If your liver should become impaired, unable to construct just one of the thousands of enzymes it makes every day, then there is a potential for impairment in the overall functioning of the body.

By consuming some of the foods and herbs that help the liver cleanse and restore itself, you can keep your body functioning at its absolute best. You don’t have to eat all of these foods every day, but try to eat at least one or two each day to keep your liver, and your entire body, working at its absolute best.

1. Milk Thistle

Perhaps one of the best liver cleansing and liver supporting herbs known to man. The active ingredient in milk thistle is silymarin. Silymarin protects the liver by stopping damaging compounds that can cause liver cell damage. This same compound also stimulates the regeneration of new, healthy cells in the liver, helping the liver to repair itself. Glutathione is one of the most important nutrients for liver detoxification, and silymarin helps to prevent the depletion of this nutrient.

2. Water

Yep, plain old water. This is an essential part of virtually every bodily function. You need to drink those 8 glasses of water every day to help your liver regenerate cells faster a well as move those nutrients throughout your body. You might get tired of hearing about how you need to drink more water, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

3. Lemons and Limes

In order to make that water less boring, why not add some freshly squeezed organic lemon or lime juice to it? Not only will it make your water more interesting, this will encourage the production of bile, which is what makes your liver flush out toxins.

4. Yellow Dock Root

Although this herb is often thought of as only a blood purifier, it is also terrific at cleansing toxins from your body. This root stimulates the production of bile, which will help to break down fatty foods. Yellow dock root will also help to detoxify the body as it is a natural diuretic, which will help your body remove the toxins that the liver breaks down. It’s also known to help reduce irritation in the digestive system as well as the liver.

5. Garlic

Garlic is not only good for the heart, it’s great for your liver as well, and it doesn’t take much to help the liver do its job. One clove contains all the alllicin and selenium you need to help remove toxins. Always use organic garlic and crush the clove a bit to help release those active compounds. Swallow it whole if you can, or chop it up and put it in a salad or stir fry.

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