How To Detox Your Liver Naturally For Improved Health And Fast Weight Loss

 

Many "health experts" will tell you that detox diets don't work. They will tell you, we have a liver that naturally detoxes the body so there's no need for a detox diet. But what does the research say? Yes, the liver does detoxify the body. However, research suggests that your diet can strongly impact how well the liver does its job of detoxifying the body. Your diet can support and heighten the detoxification process in the body. (1) Keep Reading to find out how to detox your liver naturally for improved health and fast weight loss. 

Over the years, with increasing exposure to toxins from medications, alcohol, processed food, food additives, pesticides, heavy metals in water and fish, air pollution, and radiation, our liver's function gradually decreases. Some people even develop diseased livers like liver cirrhosis(scarring) or a fatty liver. One of the most well-researched causes of fatty liver is the overconsumption of sugar and alcohol. Both liver cirrhosis and fatty liver are tied to liver inflammation. When our livers start to have a decreased capacity to detoxify our bodies, we start to develop systemic inflammation. This inflammation throughout our body can manifest as weight gain, frequent headaches, dry-itchy skin, joint pain, frequent stomach upset, and fatigue, among a cluster of several other symptoms.

How Does The Liver Detox Our Bodies? 

The liver has two primary phases for detoxification. These phases of detoxification are controlled by enzymes that help break down the toxins and enhance the elimination of toxins in our urine and feces. This is one reason constipation harms our bodies. The longer feces sit in our colon, the longer harmful toxins remain in our body to be redistributed into the bloodstream. For these liver detox pathways to work properly, an individual must consume high-quality macronutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals. (2) There are many foods and components of foods that are known to enhance these detoxification pathways.

How To Detox Your Liver Naturally With Food For Health and Weight Loss

Weight loss is not the goal of a proper detox diet. But weight loss will naturally result because you are eliminating high-calorie junk and processed foods from your diet. Research suggests that a "detoxification lifestyle" should be adopted to naturally detox your liver and keep your liver working properly for the long term. 

Components of a Detoxification Lifestyle Include(1):

1. Avoidance of environmental toxicants like heavy metals, pollutants, and radiation
2. Elimination of toxins via fat loss through exercise, and sauna use
3. Improving gastrointestinal health
4. Excellent nutrition and hydration
5. Stress management
6. Adequate sleep and relaxation

To enhance detoxification with food, we first must remove foods and beverages from the diet that burden the body with toxins. Remove foods that contain trans fat, food additives, pesticides, and charbroiled meat. The next step would be to add foods that help to nourish the liver and aid in detoxification. When you do this, you will decrease systemic inflammation and allow for more effective detoxification. (1)

Top 10 Foods To Add To Your Diet To Aid Detoxification (2,1)

1. Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, kale, watercress, cauliflower.
2. Allium vegetables: garlic and onions
3. Citrus fruits: oranges, grapefruit, tangerines
4. Fish Oil
5. Berries
6. Foods rich in resveratrol: grapes, wine, peanuts, soy, tea
7. Foods rich in quercetin: apples, apricot, blueberries, yellow onion, kale, alfalfa sprouts, green beans, broccoli, black tea, and chili powder
8. Foods rich in lycopene: tomatoes, rose hips, guava, watermelon, and papaya(pawpaw)
9. Curcumin (Turmeric)
10. High-quality protein with amino acids

Another important nutrient in particular that has been shown to detox our bodies from heavy metals is Chlorella. (1) Research shows that Chlorella inhibits the absorption of certain heavy metals and organic pollutants in our bodies, helping to decrease the circulation of these toxins in our bodies. 

The Smoothie Detox: 21 Day Rapid Weight Loss

Conclusion:

The liver plays an essential role in helping keep us healthy through detoxification. A nutritious diet is also key to maintaining and enhancing the function of the liver. Undertaking a detox diet may be a great way to jumpstart your wellness journey to decrease symptoms of systemic inflammation in your body, and to lose weight. Weight loss is not the primary goal of a detox diet, though you will lose weight while on a detox diet due to decreasing your calorie intake by eliminating processed junk food from your diet. Staying on a detox diet long-term may not be practical for most as it is quite restrictive. I recommend simply utilizing a detox diet to jumpstart your wellness journey. Depending on how restrictive your detox diet is you can lose 5lbs or more in a week. Partaking in a detox "cleanse" for 3-7 days at most should be enough. If you are interested in trying a detox cleanse, try the 21 day cleanse below which was created by certified health professionals. Or check out my blog post HERE for a few detox juice recipes. 

The Smoothie Detox: 21 Day Rapid Weight Loss

This post is not medical advice. It is for informative purposes only.

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