The liver is one of the most important and second largest body organs. It keeps working to keep your body and metabolism healthy by keeping your blood healthy, converting toxic food or indigestible food into waste to remove from your body, and keeping your system purified.
As the liver keeps you healthy, you also need to be conscious to keep your liver healthy by selecting good foods.
In this article, we will explore more about the liver, the importance of a healthy liver, and options of good food for liver.
Major Functions of Liver
You will be surprised to know that your liver performs more than 500 functions. You don’t need to know about all of these functions, but it is necessary to know some major functions that can help you accept the worth of a healthy liver and a conscious selection of foods that are good for your liver.
- Creating bile to make the digestion process easier
- Creating excretions to remove toxins as body waste
- Keeping hormones, cholesterol, and Bilirubin under control with excretion
- Keeping your blood healthy
- Storing vitamins, minerals, and glycogen
- Activating enzymes
- Keeping healthy metabolism with healthy fat, carbohydrates, and proteins
Symptoms of Damaged Liver
If you are not conscious of your eating habits and if you constantly ignore the importance of good food for the liver, you are likely to damage your liver and this can cause major health issues.
Some of the common symptoms of a damaged liver are listed below:
- No appetite
- Pale colour of stool
- Dark colour of urine
- Itching
- Abdominal swelling or pain
- Quick bruising
- Chronic fatigue
- Ankle and/or leg swelling
- Symptoms like jaundice
- Nausea
Good Food
To keep your liver healthy you have to not only eat the best food for liver health, but you will also need to choose foods good for liver repair or food that helps in cleansing or detoxification of liver.
To help you choose foods that are good for your liver, here we have created a list of the top superfoods you must include in your diet.
1. Cruciferous vegetables
Green and fresh vegetables are always recommended by many doctors for not only the good liver but the overall health of your body. Different vegetables may have different benefits. The best food for the liver includes Cruciferous vegetables such as:
- Brussels sprout
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
2. Beetroots
You must have read or heard that beet can be really good for blood production and circulation, but do you know beetroot is also one of the good food for repair and detoxification of liver. If you have liver diseases like inflammation or enzymes, beet can work miraculously to heal. Beet leaves and beet stalks are also considered the best food.
3. Citrus fruits
Similar to vegetables, fruits also have their own advantages to keep your body healthy. Citrus fruits are a great source of vitamin C and we all know how important this vitamin is for a real immunity boost. This fruit family also contains bioactive polyphenols, which is one of the foods good for liver repair. It makes your liver healthy and heals inflammation.
4. Coffee
If you love coffee, you have one more reason to have a cup of it. It helps in reducing liver diseases. It can also regulate enzymes to boost liver health. But, remember, too much coffee can cause health issues.
Other than these 4 superfoods that are good for your liver, the following are also great food options for a healthy liver:
- Fatty fish
- Grain
- Turmeric
- Oatmeal
- Soy
Which Food to Avoid?
As now you know what foods are good for liver repair and healthy liver, you must also know the food that can damage your liver or cause disease.
Here is the list of food items that you must avoid at any cost:
- High-fat food
- Sugary food
- Overly cooked or processed food
- Too much alcohol
Can only Good Food Keep the Liver Healthy?
Eating the best food for liver is one way to keep your liver healthy, but you also need to take care of other aspects for a healthy liver. As you now know what foods are good for liver repair and healthy liver, you must also follow some best practices like:
- Drink enough water or liquid to stay hydrated, but avoid sugary drinks
- Take enough and sound sleep
- Exercise regularly as sweating is good for liver health
Wrap up
A healthy liver will keep multiple other organs healthy and your life happy. So, it will be a good idea to take some extra steps for detoxification of liver and keep it healthy. Also, avoid food or habits that can harm it or cause any kind of damage.
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