Foods that are favourable to the liver can be categorized into two groups: those that promote liver detoxification, and those that are rich in antioxidants and protect the liver during the detoxification process.
Having a healthy liver will naturally increase your energy level and assist you in losing weight, especially in the abdomen. But prior to a diet designed to promote liver detoxification, let’s look at those foods that are rich in antioxidants because that is the diet we will want to commence with.
We shall start with fruits which have the highest oxidation levels. The US Department of Agriculture has found that the following fruits have highest levels of antioxidants: prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, oranges, pink grapefruit, cantaloupe, apples and pears.
Next comes the green tea. Green tea contains high concentration of catechin polyphinols, which combines with other chemicals to produce higher levels of fat oxidation. Consuming three cups of green tea a day is recommended.
Regarding vegetables, spinach, carrots, broccoli and tomatoes are excellent antioxidant foods. Tomatoes in specific contain a powerful anticancer agent called lycopene, and should be included in every diet in one form or another.
Lycopene is responsible for optimal absorption needs fat; hence a little olive oil will help in that regard. It has also been found that cooked tomatoes would be better than raw ones in terms of health. It is recommended that you follow a diet rich in these antioxidant foods for a week, and eliminate all animal products, sweets, alcohol and minimal amounts of coffee for the time being.
It is healthier to drink at least eight cups of purified water on a daily basis. This will set you up for the second phase of liver healthy foods since the antioxidants have protected the liver.
Now we shall look to cleanse the liver, and some of the foods you should look to in this regard are beets, artichokes, peas, parsnips, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash, yams, beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, okra, onion, and parsley.
This is quite a long list, but there should be quite a few that everyone will favor, and for best results keep rotating them in your diet. We shall add some other excellent cleansers for the liver. Cayenne and lemon are well-known liver cleansers.
Adding a half squeezed lemon and a dash of cayenne to a glass of water every morning is really a great start to the day.
Another secret weapon to help the liver is milk thistle, which is one of the most potent liver-cleansing compounds we know. The liver is our major fat-burning organ, but only when it is functioning at peak efficiency. It’s our job to make it function without obstructions.
The liver performs over 500 different functions, so it is imperative that we give it a break whenever we can. Keeping a diet rich in antioxidant foods along with foods that have natural detoxification qualities will obviously meet those needs.
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