A liver that functions at its best is essential to maintaining overall health for people of all ages, especially as you get older.
Perhaps one of the factors that has the biggest impact on your liver health is your diet, but most people aren’t aware of the changes they can make in what they eat and drink to improve their liver’s function. By incorporating five beneficial foods and supplements into your diet, you can give this all-important organ the boost it needs.
Grapefruits are packed with two antioxidants that naturally protect your liver — naringenin and naringin.
They help your body respond to inflammation and protect the cells while also helping prevent the development of hepatic fibrosis, in which excessive connective tissue builds up in the liver. This condition stems from chronic inflammation, so it’s helpful to choose foods like grapefruits that contain antioxidants.
Like other citrus fruits, grapefruits stimulate the liver, helping it turn toxins into substances that water can absorb. By enhancing the liver’s natural cleansing process so it can better remove carcinogens, grapefruits lower your risk of developing liver cancer.
Grapefruits also have vitamin B, which further reduces inflammation. B vitamins help slow down fatty liver disease and may even assist in preventing it.
Olive oil is a healthy fat that positively affects your metabolic and heart health. It also offers many benefits for your liver.
Following a diet rich in olive oil reduces your risk of developing fatty liver disease, especially in older adults. It helps decrease fat accumulation in the liver while also improving the blood levels of liver enzymes.
Because fat accumulation is the first step in the development of liver disease, adding olive oil to your diet goes a long way toward preventing that problem.
The flavonoids present in milk thistle supplements help with liver detoxification. The most important flavonoid in milk thistle supplements is silymarin, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It is a helpful supplement for people who already have liver diseases like cirrhosis, but it’s a good preventive option as well.
Milk thistle supplements protect new liver cells from alcohol damage as well as damage from other toxic substances. It can also help with symptoms of jaundice.
Most nuts are excellent for liver health because of the antioxidative properties they have, but walnuts are one of the best options. They have a higher level of antioxidant content, including the beneficial polyphenol antioxidants and glutathione, as well as a high level of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Walnuts help reduce the amount of fat in the liver. Because walnuts contain an antioxidant called arginine, they help the liver get rid of ammonia.
Vitamin E is another important nutrient walnuts have that contributes to liver health. It aids in the diminishing of symptoms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by preventing cell death.
Garlic supplements contain compounds that stimulate liver enzymes, assisting the liver in the removal of toxins. It contains allicin, alliin, and ajoene, all of which help support liver health.
For people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, garlic supplements make it easier to lower cholesterol levels. Some studies also show that consuming garlic helps decrease your chances of developing liver cancer.
By making adjustments to your diet, you have the chance to improve the way your liver functions.
You can assist it in getting rid of toxins by consuming grapefruit juice and olive oil and reducing the kind of oxidative stress that leads to serious damage by turning to walnuts. With garlic and milk thistle supplements, you can reduce the chances of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
At Orlando Clinical Research Center, we offer the chance to develop and participate in the kind of studies that have led to knowing how to improve your liver and overall health. We conduct phase I-IV clinical trials to test medications and procedures that further the strides medicine makes.
Send us a message today to learn more about participating in a clinical trial.
Though independent studies exist, the FDA has not evaluated this supplement for medicinal use, as premarket evaluation and approval by the FDA are not required unless specific disease prevention or treatment claims are made.”
