What You Need To Know About Liver Detox
The liver is the largest and one of the most important organs in the human gastrointestinal tract. It performs more than 500 functions, the most essential of which includes storing the body’s nutrient reserves, manufacturing proteins, regulating chemicals in the blood and filtering toxins and waste substances from the blood
With all these important jobs to do, the liver needs to stay in top condition to work efficiently. However, because of the environment we have been living in and the kinds of food that we have been ingesting, our livers have had to deal with higher toxin levels than ever before and this considerably impedes its performance.
The liver is a naturally regenerating organ but if the damage goes
past a certain threshold, the liver will no longer be able to repair itself and simply succumb to diseases caused by excessive toxin levels in the body. To prevent this from happening, many health experts greatly recommend that people regularly go on liver detox treatments.
Liver detox is a process that cleanses and rejuvenates the liver by basically giving it a short rest. The most common way to do a liver detox is by dieting for 3 days to 3 weeks, depending on the program you choose to follow. Although there are many different variations of the liver detox diet, they basically follow the same principle which is to let the liver heal itself by reducing the intake of foods that are difficult to digest.
Most liver detox diets actually limit a person’s diet to fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and foods that are rich in fiber. Meat is not allowed during a liver detox treatment because these can release certain acids that can be harmful to the liver.
In the same way, coffee and tea are forbidden because of the caffeine content. Other foods that are not allowed include everything that has refined sugar, saturated fats and any other processed ingredients. All liver detox diets also include an increase in fluid intake. You will be required to drink at least 8 glasses of water or fresh fruit or vegetable juices everyday.
Although liver detox diets are highly successful in flushing out toxins and other waste materials from the body, these are not suited for everyone. People with liver or kidney problems as well as women who are pregnant or lactating are not allowed to undergo these treatments. Before going on any of these programs, you must consult with a doctor to check if you are qualified.
If you are not fit to go on a liver detox diet, there’s no need to worry. There are other ways to cleanse your liver besides dieting. You can try taking herbal supplements such as dandelion and fringe tree which are not only good for eliminating toxins but are also helpful in boosting your digestive and immune systems.
Another method of liver detox is by using patches. These are new cleansing products from Asia that absorb toxins from your bloodstream after being stuck onto the soles of your feet. These patches are said to be safe for anyone to use and are very effective alternatives to traditional liver detox treatments.