Why You May Want to Consider a Liver Cleanse

The liver has many important functions including, secretion of bile, extracting vitamins from the blood stream to store for future use, metabolism of fat and protein, assisting with blood sugar regulation, converting unneeded sugars into glycogen, converting excess food to fat, acting as a detoxifier, regulating thyroid function, and breaking down hormones after they have performed their needed functions. With the liver being the organ that converts toxins into non-harmful substances so they can be eliminated from the body, you can imagine that if it becomes too toxic itself, it can’t perform its job properly, and then health problems can arise.

Reasons the liver may not function properly are:

1. Buildup of poisons from many sources such as preservatives, drugs, alcohol, insecticides, artificial sweeteners, oral contraceptives, caffeine, etc.
2. Eating an improper diet of saturated fats, fried foods, and hydrogenated fats is hard on the liver, especially if the diet doesn’t contain enough protein. Processed foods, white flour, and white sugar are also particularly hard on the liver.
3. Consuming too much food puts unnecessary burden on the liver, causing it to become fatigued. If the liver is overworked or fatigued, it is difficult for it to eliminate all the harmful substances we take in through our food.

To properly detoxify the liver, vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are helpful because they have the ability to activate enzymes that detoxify. Drinking a glass of water with fresh lemon juice squeezed into it first thing in the morning also helps detoxify the liver.

Some supplements that help detoxify the liver include milk thistle, burdock root, kelp, dandelion root, turmeric, parsley, lecithin, vitamins A, C, E, B-complex, zinc, and selenium.

There are many cleanse kits on the market that combine some of these ingredients to create an effective cleanse program, so if considering that option, be sure to check the ingredient label.

Below are liver cleanse books available from Amazon:

Visit the sites below for liver cleanse recipes:

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