Love Your Liver
Performing 12% of our body’s metabolic functions, the liver helps build and regulate blood, detoxifies pollutants, eliminates unwanted visitors (i.e. virus/bacteria), activates the immune system, repairs damages, converts glucose into glycogen, creates bile, metabolizes and synthesizes nutrients, secretes enzymes, and stores vitamins, minerals, glycogen, lipids and proteins. It is not by chance that it is called the LIVER: every nutrient and chemical we digest passes through the liver before being absorbed into the bloodstream (Bauman & Waldman, 2012). An unhappy liver can affect all aspects of health. Diminished function creates a backlog of toxins and unexcreted waste which tend to poison the blood and blood tissues, and can be a precursor to a chronic degenerative illness, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer (Bauman & Friedlander, 2012).
Eat for Health - Eat wholesome, organic, chemical-free, and nutrient-dense foods.
Get Some Rest - Reduce stress and get to bed before 11pm so that the liver can detox and rejuvenate.
Drink Filtered Water - At least 8 glasses per day for essential detox and healing processes.
Eat More Fiber - Fiber helps digestion and aids in the removal of toxins from the body.
Eat Complete Proteins- On average best to eat 50 - 100g/day of clean proteins (ie. whey protein smoothies, eggs, quinoa & beans, fish, poultry, lamb).
Eat Good Fats - Get much-needed essential fatty acids from mostly monounsaturated fats such as extra virgin olive oil and avocado, and healthy saturated fats such as coconut oil, organic ghee (clarified butter) & butter, plus omega-3s from oily fish, flaxseeds and nuts.
Life Is Simple When Carbs Are Complex - Complex carbs such as unprocessed whole grains, root vegetables, and organic seasonal vegetables provide the fiber, B-vitamins, and minerals we need. Refined carbs don’t.
Exercise! Bring in some extra oxygen, build muscle, energize the organs, and help the liver detoxify by getting a little sweat on.
Avoid Processed Sugar - Better options: raw honey, maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, date or palm sugar, or stevia, all in moderation. Processed sugars, especially high-fructose corn syrup, add stress to the body & liver (the liver metabolizes the fructose component, while the glucose from sugar and starches is metabolized by every cell in the body - a lot more work for the liver than the same number of calories of starch/glucose). The speed with which the liver has to do its work will also affect how it metabolizes the fructose and glucose.
Eliminate Harmful Fats - Rancid, hydrogenated, and synthetic fats (margarine, refined vegetable oils - including canola) present foreign molecules to the body.
B Vitamins - Eat whole grains, organic/pasture-raised animal products such as butter, liver, and meats; add nutritional yeast; increase folic acid from dark leafy greens. Consider supplementing folic acid, B6 and B12.
Vitamin A and carotenes - Eat pretty colors: orange, purple, yellow (carrots, beets, pumpkins, squashes) with a little fat to help absorb fat-soluble vitamins, especially carotenes (use the good fats in item #6). Supplement with Cod Liver Oil (fermented is best) - it will also provide vitamins D & E.
Bitters - The liver loves bitters - they “activate” it. Start the day with a cup of warm water with the juice of 1/2 lemon; eat bitter greens such as dandelion greens, arugula, kale, radicchio, mustard greens, chicory, and nettle; take a bitter extract such as gentian, grapefruit seed, or Angostura bitters before meals to help stimulate the liver to release digestive juices: a few drops diluted in 3 oz of water will do the trick.
Drink Lots of Tea - Mineral-rich herbal teas will help replenish reserves: oat-straw, nettle, red clover, raspberry leaf, alfalfa, dandelion root, and boldo. 2 to 3 cups/day.
Avoid Drugs - Watch for unnecessary over-the-counter medication usage, limit alcohol, and stay away from street drugs.
References:
Odierna, Donna. Dietary Suggestions for Liver Support in Chronic Hepatitis. 1998/99.
Bauman, Ed & Friedlander, Jodi. Therapeutic Nutrition, Part I. Bauman College, 2012.
Bauman, Ed & Waldman, Helayne. The Whole-Food Guide for Breast Cancer Survivors. New Harbinger Publications, Inc, 2012.
Taubes, Gary. Is Sugar Toxic? The New York Times Magazine, 2011.< http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all>