Liver Detox is good for your body in so many ways.
What is the simple but most effective way to be healthier with more revived energy?
The key lies in one of our very own organs, obviously the most important one, and it’s just below your diaphragm. Yes, you guessed right. The key is in your liver, which is an extremely important organ in both animals and human beings. You will be amazed at how many crucial functions our livers carry out day in and day out 24/7.
Below are some of the most crucial functions of our livers.
* Detoxification
* Stores glycogen and certain vitamin
* Aids in the production of hormones
* Helps in the red blood cells decomposition
* Aids in digestion
* Protein synthesis
And the list goes on and on, but in short, you can think of liver as ‘the processing factory’, which filters out harmful toxins and chemicals, breaking down and flushing them out of our systems. Unfortunately, the liver can and will wear out. Therefore, it is of our best interest to take the very best care of our livers. How? You need to detox your liver. You can safely and effectively detox your liver few times a year to keep your liver strong and healthy. Remember, a strong liver is the key to health and longevity.
Face it, tens of millions of Americans have high cholesterol levels. In large part, this is due to wrong diet habits. The liver is the organ which bears the brunt of these dietary indiscretions. As we get older, our cholesterol readings tend to jump. If your doctor has tested you and found your cholesterol readings to be rising to an unhealthy level, you may be prescribed one of the statin drugs, which causes your liver to stop producing cholesterol. This is one method of cholesterol control, but perhaps not the best solution. The natural way of controlling cholesterol level is not by forcing it with chemicals, but you should detox your liver smart way so that you can control your cholesterol the safe way. Here we introduce a simple, but very powerful, 3-step Liver Detox Diet plan.
Have you checked out our latest article on the benefits of detox diet?
Most people are aware that over-consumption of alcoholic beverages has a detrimental effect on the liver over time, eventually leading to hardening of the liver and cirrhosis. However, there are many other toxins which enter our bodies every day and to which we don’t give a second thought. Even many of the foods we eat contain preservatives and a variety of other additives, which your liver must also tackle. Environmental pollutants add yet more to the liver’s hefty workload. This is another important reason why you should cleanse and detox your liver in a regular interval.
* Symptoms of a Liver problem: Nose bleeding accounts for liver problems. People may also notice that they bruise easily. This shows that they are lacking enough proteins in the body. Another symptom is frequent urination coupled with excessive thirst. These conditions are referred to as polyuria and polydipsia respectively. Other symptoms include irritability, headaches, dizziness, depression, low libido, fatigue, and spasms. Abnormal liver function can be prevented. It is advisable to observe good hygiene, which includes thorough washing of hands after coming into contact with dirt. Drinking of tap water while traveling internationally should be stopped. Do You Need Liver Function Tests?
Remember nothing is as important as your health. Sadly, more and more people are concerned about the affordability and necessity of a variety of medical procedure. More and more people worry about whether or not a test, medication or procedure is really necessary – or if you are just lining some rich pharmaceutical company’s CEO’s already healthy wallet. One of such procedures with concerns are liver function tests.
Did you know that there are a number of liver function tests and not all of them measure the functioning of the liver exactly? They are useful at discovering liver damage and disease, but how really useful are they?
First of all, the main liver function tests may be done for a variety of reasons. In addition to testing for damage and disease, they are also vital for monitoring current disease fighting medication and procedures. This is important because liver treatment is expensive and understanding the extent or lack of improvement gives liver function tests a crucial role. But what if you do not see any diagnosed liver diseases or damages? Are liver function tests able to detect such ailments?
Liver disease and damage usually carries with it a variety of other symptoms and consequences that are found before any of the liver function tests are employed. For example, blood work is usually used to examine liver function and liver function tests are usually only a secondary examination into what the root of the problem might be.
In fact, liver function tests are conducted by drawing blood. The blood is simply analyzed differently with an emphasis on the absence, scarcity, or abundance of a variety of enzymes which might indicate faults or malfunctioning in the liver. That said, there are no risks or side effects to any of the liver function tests, apart from very mild soreness at the site of withdrawal – usually the arm. Lab results are usually available within a few hours or days.
Now you can see liver function tests are primarily engaged for those already with liver damage or, once preliminary data points to liver disease and damage. As such, it is unnecessary to have unprompted liver function tests. As the costs of health care skyrocket, it is more important than ever to have as much information as possible, and further investigation into liver function tests will only serve you well in the future.
Liver Foods That Make Your Liver Stronger and Useful
Most people don’t think about what foods are good for keeping their liver strong. But, if you have been discovering and using a diet that is good for your overall health, then, most likely you are helping your liver.
So here again is a list of healthy eating that will result in a strong useful liver.
Oils – use mostly olive oil for your food preparation. This oil can be heated to a relative medium level without causing free radicals. Use flax seed oil or fish oil every day.
Avoid margarine or any other artificial butter since their processing creates chemicals the liver cannot recognize as food. Use Ghee, which doesn’t require refrigeration, or raw butter,
Sunflower, safflower, and other seed oils should be kept in the refrigerator to keep them from becoming rancid.
When you eat too much fat, the fat accumulates in the liver. The liver is responsible for breaking down the fat and using it for energy. Accumulated fat in the liver can become rancid producing free radicals that damage liver cells.
Food – try to buy and eat good organic food. Food that has been sprayed with pesticides is difficult to clean and these chemicals will get into your body as free radicals.
Protein – Cut down on the amount of protein that you eat. Most of us only need about 2-3 ounces of protein, but if you do physical labor you need plenty more. The problem with more is some of this protein may not completely digest in our stomach and move into the colon. There this undigested protein is decomposed by bad bacteria creating toxic matter. These toxins can be absorbed into the blood and cause the liver extra work in detoxifying them.
Sulfur Foods – Since the liver produces enzymes, which are used in every body chemical reaction, you can support this activity by eating foods such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli cabbage, seeds and nuts.
Vitamins – minerals – nutrients – The liver, just like all parts of the body, needs vitamins and minerals. Get these from fruits and vegetables or even fruit and vegetable juices. Ionic minerals, easily absorbed, can be purchased in bottles from WaterOZ and other brands. These ionic minerals can then be easily added to your juices without adding any unusual taste.
Sugar – Limit, reduce or eliminate the use of sugar since it interferes with enzyme activity throughout your body. Use fruits, whole grains, barley malt, rice syrup, dates, dried fruit, and honey
Lecithin – use lecithin every day for the Phosphatidyl choline, PC that it provides. PC helps build the liver cell membranes creating a healthier liver. Use lecithin in granules by adding them to salads and other liquid food preparations including smoothies.
There you have it, a small list of foods to eat to help your liver give you long life. Most likely you are already eating some of these foods and if so, then, it will be easy to add just one more good healthy eating habit.
Things to know about Detox at Home
It seems to be somewhat popular today – the idea that you can just tough it out and detox yourself at home – all by your lonesome. Is this advisable? Does it work? In an interview on Anderson Cooper, Amy Winehouse’s father recently said that the singer who was in a long-term battle quitting drugs and alcohol may have killed herself with the way she was trying to detox at home.
This isn’t just something that some grieving layperson of a father just decided to blurt out. Respected experts believe this too – alcohol detox is a very dangerous thing and you can actually die from the process is you aren’t in professional hands.
So how exactly does one detox at home? Do they just suffer silently through it and hope that one day this pain will go away? In Amy Winehouse’s case, apparently, she was taking a drug that is well-known for the way it helps with alcohol detoxification – she was taking Librium. If you are trying to withdraw from alcohol use or the abuse of other such drugs, you can suffer seizure.
Librium is actually a very unfortunate choice of detox drug. It causes addiction by itself. People who abuse this drug can often begin to suffer from high blood pressure, anxiety and other addiction symptoms. If you’re self-medicating, you have to know that quitting Librium can cause a seizure. You need close supervision from a doctor and you need to make sure you don’t take it for more than a week.
Alcohol withdrawal typically does to the body the exact opposite of what alcohol use this. If downing a few drinks gets you all relaxed and happy, alcohol withdrawal can get you irritated, agitated and hyper. Your liver is affected too, and you can come down with jaundice. You need to know exactly how the body reacts to alcohol withdrawal before trying to detox at home. Do it in a hurry with inadequate knowledge, and things could quickly go wrong.
Liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma, is a type of cancer that affects the liver. Other names used to describe this condition include hepatoma and primary liver cancer. The liver constitutes of up to 80% of hepatocyte cells, which make up the liver tissue. These hepatocytes therefore account for 95% of cancers that manifest themselves in the liver. These cancers are known as carcinomas or hepatocellular. Other cells available in the liver include fat storing cells, bile ducts, and blood vessels. Liver cancer does not only originate from the liver but may also have originated from other body parts. These include the lungs, stomach, colon, breast, and pancreas. These cancers are referred to as secondary liver cancers or metastatic cancers. That’s one of many other reasons – probably the most intimidating one – why you need to regularly detox your liver.
As you can see, taking care of your liver is the key to a healthy, happy and long life. There are many ways of detoxing your liver effectively, and it really doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to do.
If you want more information, here’s another very useful article on Liver Detox Diet.