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If you are wondering why you should be eating for liver health, you just need to check what the liver does for you. The liver performsover 500 vital functions. These include metabolising fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, storing vitamins and minerals, and producing bile to aid fat digestion. It also helps regulate blood sugar.
The liver is also well known for its detoxification and processing of medications and alcohol.
Chronic liver disease is a major health problem worldwide. Between 1990 and 2017, the number of people dying from chronic liver disease increasedfrom 899,000 to 1.32 million.
Still, the liver is quite resilient and you can reverse liver disease with different diet and lifestyle choices and reducing alcohol. The only thing that isn't reversible is cirrhosis.
So let’s see how you can adjust your diet to best maintain your liver health.
If you are the person who can't face the day without first sipping some coffee, you’re in healthy-liver-living territory. Science says so.
Drinking coffee has been linked with lower rates of chronic liver disease. All sorts of coffee, includinginstant and decaffeinated coffees, are beneficial. The researchers found the best protection was provided by 3 to 4 cups a day.
A review found that consumption of coffee may increase antioxidants like glutathione levels in the body, whichreduces DNA damage.
After water, tea is the second most-consumed beverage worldwide. Tea is also very good for your health. Both black and green tea are popular, with green tea gaining popularity for its health-giving properties.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of studies evaluating the association between green tea and liver diseases found that drinking green tea provides a significantprotective effect against liver diseases, including fatty liver disease, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and chronic liver disease.
Green tea promotes liver health mainly because of its high antioxidant content. This is especially true forepigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, thereby reducing oxidative stress — a key contributor to liver damage and inflammation.
Some studies suggest that regular green tea consumption lowers the levels of certain liver enzymes, hinting at improved liver function.
Alcohol is highly toxic and can cause liver damage. Science has established that garlic has numerous beneficial health effects, including protecting againstliver damage caused by alcohol.
This is suggested by a study in Eastern China involving thousands of people, where eating raw garlic reduced the risk of liver cancer.
Berries are not only good for the liver; they are good for overall health. The main reason is their antioxidant qualities. Antioxidants combat oxidative stress, which reduces inflammation and improves detoxification.
Blueberries and cranberries, for instance, contain anthocyanins — antioxidants that have been found toimprove liver health and reduce liver damage in several animal studies.
Aging causes a decline in optimal organ function. This is also true for our liver. So, as we get older, our liver no longer functions the same way as it used to when we were young. A study involving rats found that blueberries mayreverse the effect of aging on liver function.
It's a pain to peel prickly pears, but once you've mastered it, your reward is the sweetest, juiciest treat! And it's healthy too!
Prickly pear is the fruit of an edible cactus plant that grows in arid and semi-arid climates. The tiny fruit is full ofantioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. These protect against inflammation and oxidative damage.
In one animal study, prickly pear's antioxidantsprevented liver injury caused by chronic alcohol consumption. Hangovers feel worse because alcohol and its byproducts cause inflammation in the body. So, an extract from the prickly pear cactus, drunk before alcohol consumption, mayreduce this inflammation.
Beetroots are rich inhealth-giving nutrients, boasting a slew of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. The flavonoids in beetroot contribute to itsantioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These flavonoids neutralize harmful free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, potentially lowering the risk of chronic diseases.
Beetroot has been studied for its potential to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A study that compared the effects of beetroot juice and the Mediterranean diet on people with NAFLD found that beetroot juice alone or combined with the Mediterranean dietreduced fat in the liver, which is a good sign for improving liver health in people with NAFLD.
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, and cauliflower are known for their superior health-supporting qualities. They are especially beneficial for liver health.
These vegetables contain natural compounds likesulforaphane, which reduce liver inflammation – a key factor in fatty liver disease.
This family of vegetables also containsindole-3-carbinol, which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancerous properties. Indole-3-carbinol boosts the liver’s detox enzymes, reduces inflammation, and supports the production of glutathione — the body’s master antioxidant.
These vegetables also help preventfat buildup in the liver, thereby reducing the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). So add these veggies to your diet and benefit from their ability to support your liver’s natural processes.
Nuts are a nutrient-dense food, high in healthy omega-3 fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Among their many health benefits are reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance. Nuts are also beneficial for the liver.
Those who ate more nuts were found to be less likely to haveNALFD.
Nuts seem to be especially good at reducing fatty liver disease. Anoverview of the foods that show the most promise in their potential to benefit liver conditions like NAFLD includes oily fish, fish oil, coffee, nuts, tea, red wine, avocado, and olive oil.
Walnuts seem to be particularly beneficial. In one study, participants ate 1 ounce of walnuts (about 6 -7 whole nuts) every day as part of a Mediterranean diet. The scientists found that people who ate walnuts five or six times a week lost more liver fat than those who didn't eat walnuts so often.
Oily fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy fats that benefit general health by reducing inflammation.
Ameta-analysis about the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on NALFD found that patients benefited from taking omega-3 supplements, which lowered their levels of liver fat.
Fish oil supplements also seem beneficial. When scientists compared people who took fish oil supplements with those who didn't, they found that people who took the supplements had a44% lower risk of all liver cancers.
Olives and olive oil are very good for the liver. Olives are rich in vitamin E and antioxidants, which makes them a healthy food for your liver.
Research confirms that extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) hasseveral protective effects on the liver due to its monounsaturated fatty acid content. The effects are to decrease inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as endoplasmic reticulum stress. It also reduces insulin resistance.
Grapes are not often associated with specific vitamins and health benefits as are oranges and berries. Yet the bioactive components in grapes can actively change how various diseases unfold, including diabetes, obesity, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. And that's not all - grape components play a role inhow we age and how long we live.
A recent study in mice found that eating grapes canextend the life expectancy of mice on high-fat diets by five times and reduce their risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Grapefruit supports liver health mainly through its antioxidant content and natural plant compounds. Grapefruit is high in two flavonoids, naringin and naringenin. These help reduce liver inflammation, protect liver cells from injury, and increase the liver’s ability to burn fat.
These compounds may also reduce oxidative stress, thereby reducing liver damage.
Studies have found that grapefruit can helpprevent fat buildup in the liver, potentially lowering the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Additionally, grapefruit may support detoxification processes by activating enzymes that help the liver break down toxins.
Scientists have found that naringenin canimprove liver injury and liver fibrosis.
Although most of the studies on the benefits of grapefruit have been conducted in animals, the results point to grapefruit potentially being beneficial for liver health.
Turmeric and its main active ingredient, curcumin, have been widely studied for anti-inflammatory properties. When people with NAFDL take turmeric extract, theirmarkers of liver injury drop.
Turmeric also prevents fat build-up in the liver. In one study, scientists treated patients with NAFLD with turmeric or a placebo for 8 weeks and found that liver damage biomarkers weredecreased significantly in the group treated with turmeric.
Surely, research is finding exciting possibilities for the use of turmeric in the treatment of numerous conditions. But we won't probably see turmeric or curcumin medicine prescribed soon, as it isn’t easily absorbed. Also, it quickly breaks down within the body or gets flushed out before it can have much effect.
But we don't need to wait for science to make a medicine, as we can simply add more turmeric to our diet and enjoy it from time to time!
Nutrient-dense foods such as cruciferous vegetables, garlic, berries, grapefruit, and beetroot provide antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and beneficial phytochemicals that may reduce the fat build-up in the liver, support detoxification enzymes, and protect against oxidative damage.
But it should be noted that a lot of the studies, especially animal studies, use ingredients in huge doses. Some of these, when converted to human consumption of the equivalent, would refer to 15 prickly pears or something.
So, you should pick the above ingredients for your liver health. But the single and most effective thing you could probably do for your liver is to not drink. No amount of cactus, beets, or blueberries can fully reverse that damage.