Did you know that the liver is responsible for over 500 functions in the body? The 8 super foods that naturally cleanse your liver

Did you know that your liver performs over 500 functions? It's important to keep it healthy. Learn the top 8 superfoods that naturally cleanse your liver.

As the biggest gland in the body, the liver does many vital jobs to keep you alive and at peak health. Most notable among those 500 jobs are: storing vitamins and iron, converting stored sugar to usable sugar when the body’s sugar levels fall below normal, destroying old red blood cells, and producing bile to break down and digest fats.

Those 500 jobs take energy, so your liver cells are packed with mitochondria.

Mitochondria are like tiny power plants providing energy to our cells. When our mitochondria start to decline with age or illness, our livers can sometimes bear the brunt of this. There are as many as 2000 mitochondria in every liver cell and, without them running at 100%, our livers aren’t able to effectively detoxify our blood or properly metabolize the food we eat.

Luckily, those functions can be supported by choosing the right diet and supplementing it with MitoQ Liver, a formulation containing MitoQ, Siliphos® Milk Thistle, Selenium, and Vitacholine®. MitoQ recharges our mitochondria with targeted CoQ10 antioxidants, which help to neutralize free radicals and reduce the damage they can do to our cells.

The liver helps to detoxify the blood to get rid of harmful substances – and that’s where the right superfoods can help.

These harmful substances are most commonly due to lifestyle factors such as alcohol, tobacco, beauty products and processed and fried foods, especially when consumed in large quantities. Other taxing chemicals are harder to avoid, like pollution, prescribed drugs, viruses and the natural by-products of metabolism. The liver requires large amounts of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) to be able to perform its processes — and many of those micronutrients can be found in common foods.

Incorporating a selection of superfoods to your diet, you can naturally cleanse and protect this hard-working organ.

Here is our list of the top eight super-foods to naturally detox and cleanse your liver.

Tea

Tea is widely considered to be beneficial for health, but evidence has shown that it may have benefits for the liver. A study based in Japan found that drinking 5-10 cups of green tea a day was associated with improved blood markers of liver health. This may be down to a compound known to assist liver function named catechin. Green tea is packed full of this plant antioxidant. Just be mindful of green tea extract as it can have a negative effect.

Cruciferous vegetables

This includes, but is not limited to, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. These vegetables are a major source of glutathione, which triggers the toxin cleansing enzymes of the liver. Eating cruciferous vegetables will increase production of glucosinolate in your system, which helps flush out carcinogens and other toxins.

Turmeric

In addition to its use as a spice and pigment, turmeric has been used in India for medicinal purposes for centuries. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, and it has powerful biological properties. This spice helps the enzymes that flush out toxins and contains antioxidants that repair liver cells. It also assists the liver in detoxing metals, while boosting bile production.

Citrus

While also providing a big hit of vitamin C, citrus fruits stimulate the liver and aid the synthesizing of toxic materials into substances that can be absorbed by water. Grapefruit is particularly beneficial as it contains two primary antioxidants: naringin and naringenin. These may help protect the liver from injury by reducing inflammation and protecting the liver cells.

Beetroot

Beets also contain vitamin C and a healthy dose of fiber which are both natural cleansers for the digestive system. But more impressively, beets assist with increasing oxygen by cleansing the blood, and can break down toxic wastes to help them be excreted quicker. They stimulate bile flow and boost enzymatic activity.

Garlic

Garlic is loaded with sulphur, which activates liver enzymes that help your body flush out toxins. Garlic also holds high amounts of selenium. Selenium is an essential micronutrient that has been shown to help boost the natural antioxidant enzyme levels in our livers. Supplementing with selenium gives our livers even more ammunition in the fight against the damage caused by oxidative stress. + Want to know more? Read our article about 'Supporting your liver with the stresses of a modern lifestyle.'

Walnuts

Walnuts are a good source of glutathione, omega-3 fatty acids, and the amino acid arginine, which supports normal liver cleansing actions, especially when detoxifying ammonia.

Olive oil

Although it is a fat, olive oil is considered a healthy fat. Cold-pressed organic oils such as olive, hemp, and flaxseed offer great support for the liver, providing the body with a liquid base that can suck up harmful toxins in the body. It has also been shown to decrease the levels of fat in the liver.