Did you know that you can fight cancer off your body when your liver is working well? The liver is the most important internal organ that has the capability to regrow itself but is often neglected. It plays the role of the Head Chemist deciding what to do with the food you eat including processing the nutrients, providing energy to the cells and dealing with the nasty toxins. Therefore, you need to concentrate on the health of your liver for a healthy life.
Let’s find out how to look after your Liver the natural way and prevent diseases:
High Carbohydrates Consumption Stress the Liver
The first food that we eat every morning is very important, however, these days we are more addicted to breakfast cereals, bread toast, muffins. The problem with this type of breakfast is that it is loaded with high carbohydrates and refined sugars. And, then coming to Lunch, again we hog on a lot of carbs including rice, potatoes and more. Finally, the dinner ends with pasta, pizza, and pies. When it comes to snacking in between, again it is a whole lot of junk ranging from cakes, chips, cookies, etc.
When we look at our day-to-day consumption of food, it is becoming increasingly evident that we are becoming High Carbohydrate Consumers. The number one reason for this high exposure to carbohydrates is that it’s easy and available readily. So, we have become a lazy lot of people who want quick food and eventually load up on too many Carbs throughout the day.
Now, this puts a lot of stress on the liver. All that carbs that we consume with every meal of the day go straight to our head chemist – the liver and the liver converts it to glucose that provides energy to your body.
The liver breaks down glucose in a multi-step chemical process that delivers energy to each cell of your body. But after this process is over, there is still a lot of glucose left over due to high-carb consumption. So, now the liver chooses it to be stored as glycogen in the tissues of your muscles. These glycogen stores are only utilized as when it is needed by your body, for example when you work-out or go for a walk.
As seen above, it is the carbohydrates that play the role of the antagonist and accumulates as glycogen stores in the liver and not the Fat.
Negotiate Carbohydrate Consumption for a Healthy Liver
So, does that mean you have to give up on Carbohyrdates all-together? No, but be aware that Carbohydrate is a non-essential nutrient for the body and try to strike a right balance. When you starve your body off carbohydrates, a process called gluconeogenesis is initiated in order to produce glucose from non-carbohydrate sources.
As you lower your carbohydrate consumption, you will find that you can lose weight effectively, deal with diabetes and even prevent cancer. Cancer cells thrive on glucose and can be called as glucose scavengers. So, these harmful cancer cells eventually self-destruct themselves when there is not much glucose available.
Essential Nutrients for the Liver – Fibre, Fat, and Protein
Around 50% of each of your cell membrane is made of Fat and another 50% is Proteins. The most important organ of your body – the brain needs fat as it forms a protective coating above the brain cells. Did you know that breast milk, the very first food of newborns is majority fat and it is very important for the growth of brain cells? So, don’t ignore fat and come out of the prevalent fat-free fad diets.
The next important nutrient is that of proteins. You find proteins in eggs and organic animal meat. However, vegetarians can still get the recommended intake from consuming legumes, nuts, and seeds. Protein and amino acids are needed by the liver to process out the toxins from the body. Without proteins, you will accumulate free radicals in your system.
Last, but not the least the fibers are very important for a healthy gut and a healthy liver. It sweeps the gastrointestinal tract and it will not function well without the essential fibers.
The Health of Your Liver depends on Healthy Diet
According to Barbara O’Neil a popular naturopath and nutritionist, you should try to reduce the intake of whole grains, starches, and carbohydrates and incorporate the following essential sources of food for a healthy liver function:
| Food Type | Protein/Fat/Fibre | Carbohydrate | Types of Food |
| Legumes | High | Low – Medium | Pulses, Beans, Lentils, and Sprouts |
| Seeds | High | Low | Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds |
| Nuts | High | Low | Almonds, Cashew, Walnuts, and all other nuts and dry fruits excluding Peanuts which is high in carbohydrates |
When it comes to a healthy liver function, remember that the olive oil is not bad, but the pasta over the olive oil is. If you like Pasta, have it, but have it with more vegetables and sauces and lower the serving of Pasta. Be conscious of your carbohydrate intake and keep diseases at bay! Overall you need to concentrate on the health of your liver for a healthy and disease-free life.
Learn about Liver Detox and Diet that Supports Detoxification