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Best Diet For Fatty Liver Disease

The Best Diet For Fatty Liver Disease

Fact: 1 in 3 people in the United States have Fatty Liver Disease and it is about the same in other westernised countries.

Today’s hurried lifestyle very rarely enables most of us to eat healthily or exercise sufficiently on a regular basis. Over the years the Liver becomes stressed, worn out and we may not even be aware of the damage as liver disease rarely shows any symptoms.

The liver carries out a number of very important functions. It process nutrients from food, makes bile, removes toxins from the body and builds proteins.

The best diet for fatty liver disease

You can see how inflammation of the liver (fatty liver disease) interferes with these important functions and can lead to poor health. Fortunately, the liver is extremely resilient and liver damage can be repaired by changing what we eat and incorporating a variety of Liver Cleansing Foods.

Fact: The number 1 cause of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is being overweight!

We are all aware that being overweight can cause a variety of other conditions such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Heart Problems to name a few.

The expression “what we don’t know won’t hurt us” in this case is totally untrue.

Below you can find out why what we eat affects our overall health.

When we eat our digestive system immediately begins to break down the food into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually all these nutrients will enter the blood and travel to the liver through the hepatic portal system to be filtered. The liver will then process these nutrients in a variety of ways, depending on what the body needs.

It will store some of these nutrients in such a way that the body can grab them for quick energy. The rest will be used to make other important chemicals the body needs.

Gallstones

Gallstones are collections of hardened digestive fluids that collect inside the gallbladder, which also holds bile which in turn is important to digestion. Gallstones can block the bile ducts resulting in partial digestion of our food, which hinders the overall function of the liver.

It is necessary for bile to properly break down the fats and toxins before their journey to the liver. Gallstones usually occur when there is too much cholesterol (from what we eat) in the bile.

Bile Duct Obstruction.

Another digestive problem of the liver is commonly known as bile duct obstruction. This happens when a blockage in the bile duct doesn’t allow bile to release from the liver into the gallbladder, consequently bile builds up in the liver and causes a number of serious health problems.

For example, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the build-up of bile in the liver can cause jaundice, or yellowing of the skin.

Bad digestion is a big reason why the liver may not function properly to start with. This can be rectified be using a digestive supplement or adjusting your diet.

Let’s look at two other liver functions, Building Proteins and Removing Toxins from the Blood.

A protein is a complex chemical that is essential to every living thing. Proteins are everywhere in the body, and need to be constantly produced.

The liver has the job of building many different kinds of proteins that the body needs everyday. As an example, there are many proteins produced by the liver that are responsible for blood clotting. If the liver is damaged, sometimes the body isn’t able to clot blood effectively.

Removing Toxins from the Blood.

All of the blood in our bodies will eventually pass through the liver. As this is the filter for the blood it will pull out any bad things in the blood, such as toxins. Some of these toxins are drugs, and other things that the body has finished with, like damaged cells, proteins and old hormones.

The liver prepares all of these toxins so that they can be removed from the body. However, if the liver isn’t functioning properly these toxins obviously can’t be removed and they start to accumulate creating problems.

Hopefully you can understand that the liver is extremely important in allowing us to enjoy a good, healthy life.

Liver Cleansing Foods

Why do we need Liver Cleansing Foods?

Before we look at liver cleansing foods you need to be aware that your liver at some stage may need some help. The shear amount of work that the liver has to contend with and the fact that most of us take it for granted that our liver and other organs are fine until we are told differently means, we are not aware that anything may be wrong until it is too late. You also need to take into account that liver disease very rarely has any symptoms in its initial stages.

liver cleansing foods analogySo at some stage your liver may need some help to keep it in tip top condition. This is where a liver cleanse comes into play. The liver is a very important part of your bodies filtering system. Your body is similar to a car engine; if the engine becomes worn and the various filters become clogged then the car will still drive but not very well. It’s ironic really but a large percentage of people look after their car better than they look after their body.   A very popular liver cleanse also used by various celebrities is the Lemonade Cleanse.

Liver cleansing foods can assist your livers functionality.

Over the years we take various medications like Aspirin, cough medicines, prescription drugs for digestion, cholesterol, blood pressure and a whole host of other things. These combined with alcohol and non-nutritional foods give the liver a pounding.

These are some signs that your liver may need some help.

  • Discoloured or brittle finger nails.
  • Bloodshot or yellow eye discolouration.
  • Headaches on the top of the head.
  • PMS symptoms, especially cramping.
  • Depressive and irritable swings in behaviour.
  • Hot flashes.
  • Gallstones.
  • Skin rashes, eczema, psoriasis and acne.

Whilst a healthy diet will go a long way to keeping your liver in shape you may want to give a little boost in the way of natural supplements and herbs.

Liver cleansing foods and supplements that can help your liver.

Milk thistle: This has got to be the most well-known supplement not just for liver health, but also kidney and gall bladder support. One of the most important natural ingredients in milk thistle is silymarin, a flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This natural ingredient has been clinically shown to protect the liver from the negative effects of various toxins found in everyday medications and it also can help a great deal with alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Dandelion and chrysanthemum: The liver heats up when it has to deal with things like alcohol, toxins and stress. These two flowers possess a positive effect on cooling the liver. They can be taken in capsule form or tea, dandelion and chrysanthemum can actually reduce liver inflammation and stimulate the production of bile. and help detox the liver.

Chai Hu Shu Gan Wan: This is Chinese herbal formula that is composed of seven different types of herbs that assist liver functionality.

Supplements and liver cleansing foods.

There are a variety of teas such as green tea and Tava tea that have natural antioxidants in them and having these daily can assist the liver.

An effective liver cleanse requires about 10 nutrients that will unclog the liver and help eliminate dangerous toxins that come from having a poor diet. The formula includes:

Milk thistle: Helps the liver effectively repair itself by replacing dead or damaged cells.

Phosphatidylcholine: Supports the prevention of fatty liver and helps protect liver cells from hardening.

Artichoke leaf: Boosts healthy bile secretion.

Turmeric root: Helps remove dangerous toxins from the liver, helps with bile production and reduces inflammation.

Burdock: This helps purify the blood by neutralizing the poisons that enter the liver.

N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC): Aids with the protection of the liver from toxic chemicals and helps eliminate kidney stones.

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA): Assists the body in increasing glutathione, a liver-supportive enzyme that neutralizes the effects of prescription medicines.

Trimethylglycine (TMG): Supports liver functionality by reducing liver fat and abdominal pain. It also helps repair alcohol-induced liver damage.

Dandelion root: This helps filter toxins from the liver and kidneys while increasing urine production.

Olive leaf: Anti-infective that protects against viruses and bacteria. It also assists the normal function of the liver.

Resources: Symptoms of fatty liver disease, What causes a fatty liver

Whilst liver cleansing foods and supplements are beneficial for boosting liver functionality if you have a fatty liver then a specific diet is the only way to reverse the effects. For more information on such a diet visit The Fatty Liver Solution