What to eat and what not to eat to keep the liver healthy?

Dr.Sharad Malhotra, 4 mins read

The liver is a crucial organ of the body, which helps us in food digestion and detoxification. The food you eat has a direct impact on your liver health. When you eat healthy food, the liver doesn’t get much stressed, and its digestive capacity also improves. That’s why it’s critical to prepare your diet plan wisely. Here, we have listed what food to eat and what to avoid for a healthy liver.

Foods to Eat for Good Liver Health

• Fruits

Load your grocery basket with grapes, apples and citrus fruits. These are proven to be liver-friendly. You can eat raw grapes, grape juice or grape seed extracts as a supplement to power up your diet. This improves antioxidant levels, which prevents the liver from toxins and toxin induced liver damage. 

Consuming apples regularly helps to prevent release of toxins from your digestive tract. This makes the liver job easier. Moreover, eating citrus fruits provides your liver with the necessary vitamins and minerals,  which are helpful in liver detoxification.  

• Vegetables

Scientific studies suggest that consuming cruciferous vegetables is good for liver health. These vegetables contain some organic compounds that protect against harmful substances. Cruciferous vegetables are high in fibre content and have promising benefits for liver health. Common examples include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage in your diet plan.

• Salads
  

Having fresh vegetables and fruits on your plate is always recommended for good liver health. One of the best ways to do this is to prepare a salad. Having salad in a way that your taste buds and liver love is a good decision. Consume salads at least two to three times a day. They are loaded with protein, powerful antioxidants, fibers and other essential vitals that benefit you and your liver. 

• Coffee and Tea

Both coffee and tea help promote liver health. Studies show that regular coffee consumption reduces the chances of fatty liver and liver cirrhosis. The caffeine in it improves antioxidant levels and liver enzymes, especially in people at risk for liver disease. Tea, on the other hand, has immense benefits on overall health, especially on the liver. It lowers the internal effects of liver fibrosis. Tea also acts as an antioxidant and boosts liver enzymes. 

However, consumption of tea/ coffee is not a treatment for liver disease but plays a good supportive role.

• Nuts and Whole Grains

Nuts are a good source of vitamins, fats, antioxidants and nutrients. The unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants in them reduce the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and improve liver health.

Like nuts, whole grains are also beneficial. Consuming its products like oatmeal, millet, brown rice, and barley is good for the liver. They are loaded with fibre that helps in reducing fat and sugar storage in the liver and improves digestion. 

Foods to Not Eat for Good Liver Health

• Alcohol

Excessive consumption of alcohol is significantly associated with important  liver diseases. It can cause fat buildup in the liver that can lead to several conditions like alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.'

• Fried and Roasted Food

We all love to have fried and roasted food. But these foods silently eat up liver health. They can result in fat build up in the liver cells and cause fatty liver disease. In addition, you should also avoid foods with excess salt as they lead to increased fluid retention in body. 

• Fizzy Drinks

These are sugar rich food substances and are full of “empty calories”  with zero nutritional value. Having these drinks occasionally may not harm you. But regularly having them can cause damage to the liver and lead to other liver issues.  These drinks may lead to obesity which affects the liver causing fatty liver disease and hepatitis.

• Junk Food

The name is very apt as it belongs to junk category only with poor nutritional value . Fast foods tastes good to us but not to the liver. All the fast foods cause obesity and can lead to cirrhosis and many other liver problems. That’s why it’s good to limit your junk food consumption.

• Processed Meat

Processed meat like hot dogs, bacon and salami affect liver health. They are high in saturated fat. If they are consumed in excess over time, they may damage the liver. Moreover, consumption of red meat like beef and pork in excess should also be avoided. 

Takeaway!

Healthy food is key to a healthy liver. The better you eat, the better this lovely all rounder organ will perform. Above, we have discussed what to eat and what to not eat for a healthy liver. Furthermore, eat freshly and properly cooked food, take small meals and never sleep right after eating.

Happy healthy Liver life to all!

Also, read : Different Types of Viral Hepatitis