It’s the end of December, and we are all busy celebrating it through the month. Partying, drinking, binging, late-night munches and hangovers... these are all synonyms for December. But we all forget to take care of a very important organ that suffers the most during this time — I’m talking about ‘liver.’ It is one of the most vital organs in our body that needs attention and care, to keep our body functions in check. With our sedentary lifestyles, binge drinking, unhealthy eating habits and staying up for long hours, we ignore the damage that actually happens to this vital organ.
The liver is one of the five eliminatory organs in our body, and we take hardly any care of this precious organ. The liver is involved in many metabolic activities that takes place in our body wherein the nutrients from the food that we eat are stored in liver and then supplied to the cells and other body parts whenever needed. The main function of liver is detoxification, that’s why it filters the blood coming from digestive tract before circulating it throughout the body, plus it detoxifies chemicals and helps our body metabolise a drug or medicine well. Bile, as you know, is produced by the liver, which is important for digestion and absorption of fat in the small intestine.
The liver also produces protein, which helps in blood clotting, as well as helps in RBC production. These are few important functions done by the liver, but there are many more to pen down. With all these complex activities, we need to take extra care of this special organ. Sadly, some people put too much pressure on the liver for detoxification by drinking large amounts of alcohol, imagine you stop the liver from performing its regular activities. How will it perform at its best? Won’t the liver get fed up and reveal symptoms? It’s high time one understands the ill effects of alcohol on the liver, so they
consume alcohol in moderation.
This festive season, let’s also try and work towards detoxifying our liver regularly to keep our vital
functions in check. There are a few superfoods that particularly cleanse and enhances the functioning of our liver. Here’s a list of foods that will protect your liver from damage:
• Carrots and beetroots: The orange antioxidant pigment found in these vegetables reduces the
load on the liver and improves its function. Additionally, they also have glutathione, which is the
master antioxidant that helps in the detoxification of liver.
• Lemon: This is the best source of vitamin C that boosts the production of enzymes, which helps in liver detoxification naturally. It’s always suggested to drink a glass of lemon water first thing in morning as well as before starting your alcoholic drinks to keep the body alkaline and reduce the pressure from the liver.
• Green leafy vegetables: The most powerful superfoods are leafy veggies that contain chlorophyll which helps to cleanse not only the liver, but the colon and lungs as well. They also help to detoxify the blood. Green leafy veggies also eliminate heavy metals from the body, and thus have a protective mechanism towards the liver.
• Ginger: The therapeutic and detoxifying properties of ginger are imparted from its high concentration of gingerol (phytochemical). It actually helps in improving digestive enzymes and cleansing the liver to keep you healthy.
• Garlic: It’s the superfood loaded with nutrients like sulphur, allicin, phosphorous, vitamin B6, mangenese and selenium, which helps to activate the liver enzymes essential for flushing out toxins from the body.
• Cruciferous vegetables: Intake of these veggies increases the production of glucosinolate
in our body that helps to eliminate toxins through the liver and improves its function.
• Sugarcane: It’s super alkaline in nature which helps in maintaining the pH balance in the body and liver, plus the antioxidants present in this fruit protects the liver from damage and also has helped in
curing jaundice. It also prevents alcohol and other toxic items from getting converted into harmful
compounds in the liver, thus shielding the liver from all issues.
Nourish your body well along with regular activity and avoid overeating as well as over drinking to keep your liver health in check.