Detoxing: Top 5 Cleansing Foods for your Liver

The liver is an essential organ that is responsible for detoxifying your blood, producing proteins, regulating cholesterol, and storing vitamins and minerals. It also helps your body to break down toxins like medications, alcohol, and natural metabolic byproducts. While your liver is one of your best detoxifying tools, it is also important to help detox it. You can do that by eating some of the foods listed below:

Coffee

Coffee is one of those food items that sits in a perpetual state of fluctuation between good and bad. A new study seems to pop up every day to tell us to drink coffee or don’t drink coffee. It is important to understand that these studies are focused on the coffee’s caffeine content, not the coffee itself. Drinking coffee can actually protect your liver from disease – this also holds true for people who are suffering from liver problems. Coffee helps to prevent the buildup of collagen and fat in the liver which results in liver disease and inflammation thanks to its antioxidant levels. There can be nothing as refreshing as sipping hot coffee from an insulated tumbler!

Tea

Tea has long sat at the top of health care remedies, where it is often lauded as a detoxifying agent. Green tea in particular is great for your liver. It contains a large number of antioxidants that can improve enzyme and fat levels in the liver. This helps to reduce oxidative stress and keep your liver functioning healthy.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is another antioxidant rich food. Specifically, it contains naringenin and naringin, two antioxidants that protect the liver. They reduce inflammation and hepatic fibrosis, as well as reduce fat build up in the liver.

Blueberries and Cranberries

The anthocyanins, antioxidants responsible for giving berries their distinctive colors. They don’t just make berries colorful, they also help your liver stay healthy. Consuming berries helps increase the immune cell response and antioxidant enzymes inside your liver. Studies have also shown that anthocyanins can potentially reduce the development of liver cancer.

Olive Oil

Olive oil has healthy fats and many positive health benefits for multiple aspects of your body. Consuming olive oil can help decrease levels of fat inside the liver and improve blood flow. It also can increase the levels of enzymes in the liver.