The liver performs around 500 functions to support your overall health. Learn what it takes to protect your liver naturally.
Getting older can bring certain health challenges. As you age, different processes occur in your cells and organs that impact both their function and appearance. Taking proper care of your health and implementing some preventive measures can place you on a path to healthy aging and longevity.
When you think about the most important organs that you need to protect, the liver might not be the top choice. And yet, good liver health is essential to making sure that your body stays vital.
Aside from being the body’s second-largest organ, it performs hundreds of functions to ensure you stay in good health. The liver cleanses your body from toxins, regulates blood sugar levels, and plays a crucial role in your digestive system.
What’s more, it acts as a filter that keeps your blood clean throughout your entire life. It breaks down damaged and old blood cells and stores many minerals and vitamins that it releases into the bloodstream when needed.
To keep your liver healthy, you need to be very mindful of what you take in. Every drink, food, and medication will reach the liver at one point, and it will either have a positive or negative effect.
But we all know that it’s not easy to be careful with every single thing that we eat. Everyone makes unhealthy choices, some more than others. But you don’t want to make this a habit. Liver damage is a serious health concern and, in some cases, can be fatal.
Every once in a while, you should think about detoxing your liver. After all, it does the same for your whole body, so you might want to return the favor. This will ensure that your liver stays healthy and that it can keep doing its job.
But how do you know if it’s time for a detox? Let’s see some of the most common signs.
Does Your Liver Need a Detox?
As mentioned, one of the most important liver functions if flushing toxins from the body. When this mechanism slows down, you start feeling unwell. Toxins start building up and causing all sorts of health issues.
What’s more, your liver is susceptible to stress hormones like cortisol. And as stress is an unavoidable part of our lives, it can be very tough to protect your liver from it. But if you don’t, you risk developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Luckily, a detox can help battle the above issues and ensure that your liver functions properly. However, it’s crucial to spot the signs of a stressed and overtaxed liver as soon as possible.
Here are some of the most common signs and symptoms you need to look out for:
➡️ Lasting fatigue
It’s normal to feel tired every once in a while. But if this happens too often or seems to linger, one of the leading causes might be your liver. Your detox mechanism deteriorates and can’t fight toxins like additives, pesticides, or heavy metals. Your body becomes vulnerable, and you start losing energy too quickly. Despite a good night’s sleep, you might feel exhausted throughout the day.
➡️ Brain fog
Ever felt like being in slow motion? You’re trying to keep up with the things that are happening around you, but this seems too challenging. If so, you’ve experienced brain fog. While there are many reasons for this, a weak lymphatic system is one of the most common ones, as your liver plays a crucial role in its regulation. High sugar intake can cause brain fog as well, since your liver can’t regulate it properly.
➡️ Intestinal issues
Your gastrointestinal system plays a big part in your body’s natural detoxifying ability. If you notice anything wrong with it, there’s a fair chance that your liver might be the cause. Consuming too many processed foods is often the main cause. Your GI tract won’t be able to get rid of toxins fast enough, causing them to build up and mess up your gut microbiome. Usual signs of this are pain and discomfort in the abdomen, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.
➡️ Sugar cravings
If you eat large amounts of simple carbs and sugar, you’re damaging your liver in all sorts of ways. The main one is disrupting its regulation of blood glucose and insulin. With time, this can result in your body craving more and more sugar. Your brain responds to sugar the same way it responds to an addictive drug — it sends signals that you need more. Of course, satisfying your sweet tooth is extremely unhealthy as it causes inflammation and many diseases.
➡️ Joint pain and stiffness
The lymph travels through your whole body and cleanses every corner of it. It takes toxins to lymph nodes that destroy them and remove them from your body. When your liver doesn’t work properly, lymph can’t move through your joints as it should. As a result, toxins remain in them, causing them to inflame and hurt.
➡️ Poor sleep
Almost 60 million Americans suffer from a lack of high-quality sleep. While there are many different causes of this, liver issues seem to be among the most common ones. Your liver metabolizes melatonin, a natural hormone released by your body's pineal gland at night-time. When this process slows down, you might not be able to have a full night of uninterrupted sleep.
➡️ Hormonal imbalances
Aside from getting rid of toxins, the liver cleanses your hormones as well. A good example is estrogen — if your liver can’t get rid of excess, you might experience many issues. These include PMS, weight gain, fibroids, and many other disorders.
What you read above are only some of the most common symptoms of liver problems. There are many more, but they occur more rarely. If you noticed any of these symptoms yourself, continue reading to find out how to keep your liver healthy.
Natural Liver Cleansing Superfoods
So we went over the problem. Now it’s time to focus on the solution. Luckily, there’s no shortage of healthy foods that will cleanse your liver and whole body naturally.
You can find a ton of different recommendations. For example, if you’re following the keto diet, you should focus on healthy fats and cruciferous vegetables. Research shows that the keto diet can significantly improve liver health markers over time. Not only does it aid weight loss, but also provides a multitude of health benefits.
But let’s not focus on that for a moment and talk about the most potent ingredients for liver detoxification. Here are some of your best choices:
Matcha green tea
Green tea is one of the most powerful antioxidants out there. It protects your whole body from free radicals that cause inflammation and many other health issues. Matcha is a specially grown strain of green tea that can do wonders for liver cleansing. Plus, it has a lot of caffeine and theanine, which give you energy throughout the day.
Milk thistle
As far as liver detoxification goes, many experts agree that this is one of the best options. Like green tea, it has a high concentration of antioxidants that remove toxins from your whole body.
Ginger
Ginger is an inevitable part of every cleanse. Combining it with other ingredients is a very effective way of keeping your liver healthy. Plus, it adds a nice flavor to foods and drinks.
Cinnamon
Who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon? Well, the taste is no worse, and cinnamon is well-known for its detoxifying properties. Research shows that it might be able to speed up weight loss too.
Spirulina
This is one of the healthiest superfoods on the planet. There’s a plethora of research that supports its many positive health effects. But most of all, it’s an incredibly powerful detoxifier.
Coconut water
Coconut water is the best way to ensure cellular hydration. Instead of having the water you drink run through you, it ensures that your cells absorb it. As a result, it flushes away toxins at a rapid rate.
But how can you find all these ingredients and take them regularly?
Here’s some fantastic news – you can find all of them in this liver detox tea! It contains everything that your liver needs to battle high toxicity.
No matter if you want to detox your liver or keep it in good health, this tea can make it happen. If you want to make sure that toxins leave your body as quickly as they should, go ahead and check it out.
