How to Support Your Liver Health
Hi friends! Today’s episode is kind of a “part 2” to last week’s episode on liver health. In that episode, we covered what the liver does and a few of the really important roles that it plays in our overall health, as well as what can happen when we don’t support our liver health. In this episode, I’m sharing practical ways that we can support the health of our livers as they support the rest of our bodies.
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There are a number of ways that we can help support the health and function of our livers and most of them can be done from the comfort of our homes! So that’s great news! I’ve broken these down into a couple of categories to hopefully help it be easier for you to remember (you can always go to the show notes as well).
The very first thing that we can do to support the health of our livers is… can anybody guess it?? You know what I’m going to say...
Improve gut health
I know that I sound like a broken record here, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that the health of our gut affects just about everything else in our bodies - especially our livers. If our guts aren’t healthy, toxins can be recirculated right back into the liver, instead of being excreted as they are designed to be.
So if you are experiencing a lot of gut health issues, work with a professional trained in gut health to address the root cause. If you struggle with constipation or regular bowel movements, this is something that needs to be addressed ASAP with a treatment that will address the root cause and not just force your body to go. Unfortunately, these kinds of medications, while necessary at times (for short-term use), do nothing to heal to cause of constipation, and can harm the balance of the microbiome even more, which just perpetuates the problem.
Here are a few ideas to help, if this is something you are struggling with:
High-quality bone broth daily
Deep breathing/box breathing before all meals
Eating every 3-4 hours (fiber, protein, and fat)
Add more variety to your meals (change out produce often)
Gargle every day (start small and build up to 2-3 minutes at a time)
Take a multi-strain probiotic (best to start this after a few weeks of the daily bone broth)
Hydrate!! (½ body weight in oz of filtered, mineral water daily; can also add electrolytes to help)
Prioritize key nutrients
Your liver is dependent on certain nutrients to function effectively. It needs protein to supply amino acids which assist with detoxification. It also needs liver-friendly nutrients including vitamin C and B vitamins, zinc, and selenium, as well as antioxidants found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale, for example. Healing foods like garlic and turmeric can also support liver function by assisting with the production of liver enzymes.
One simple tip for increasing the intake of these essential nutrients is to aim for half a plate of vegetables at every meal, making sure to include some/all of the cruciferous ones that I just mentioned. If you’re also working on your gut health, most of these veggies are more easily digested when cooked (sauteed, roasted, steamed, etc.).
There are some other nutrients and herbs that may also be helpful in supporting the liver:
NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) and Glutathione are both antioxidants that have been shown to support the liver
Milk Thistle, dandelion root, and astragalus are commonly used to nourish the liver and assist in healing, especially for those with congested/fatty livers. You can often find Liver Support Teas that are made of a blend of these herbs.
Increase lymphatic movement
Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump to keep things moving. It is dependent on the movement of your muscles and tissue to move the lymph around to different lymph nodes in the body to be filtered and then recirculated.
Moving our bodies every day for even just 10-15 minutes can help increase circulation as well as movement within the lymphatic system. Dry Brushing is also a helpful tool for increasing lymph movement in the body and can be done daily or several times a week before showering or taking a bath.
Reduce toxic burden
One major way that we can help support the health of our livers is by reducing our exposure to toxins. As I’ve talked about many times, the body - specifically speaking here about the liver - is designed to filter toxins, so we don’t need to try to be 100% toxin-free or live in a pure bubble, however, we can place an undue burden on the liver when the number of toxins we are exposed to and the rate at which we are exposed to toxins is really high. Remember how in the last episode we talked about how every single thing we breathe, digest, or absorb has to be filtered through the liver. So when we are continually eating, breathing, and absorbing things that are full of chemicals that are harmful to our bodies, we have created a huge workload for our livers.
So what are some simple ways to reduce our exposure: (have entire episodes about this 24, 64, and 65)
Choosing organic produce (for the dirty dozen) and organic, antibiotic-free meats dramatically reduce the number of herbicides and pesticides we are exposed to.
Increase awareness of the ingredients in personal care products and cleaning products. (EWG)
Decrease foods/substances that create a greater workload for the liver such as alcohol/drugs, sugar, caffeine, high-starch carbohydrates (especially w/o protein and fat).
Use Alternative therapies
There are a few other ways to support the liver that I wanted to mention:
The use of a castor oil pack over the liver is believed to increase circulation to the liver as well as help in the production of one of our master antioxidants - glutathione.
Epsom salt baths are helpful for many things, especially in relief from sore muscles and even in reducing stress. Some also believe that the absorption of magnesium sulfate from the epsom salts can also support the liver.
Acupuncture has been shown to improve circulation and therefore decrease stagnation. There are many studies showing that acupuncture is helpful for liver function.
TCM believes there to be a direct link between unresolved feelings of anger or sadness and poor liver health. We know unresolved emotions and trauma can also lead to chronic inflammation and even poor adrenal health as well. So all the more reason to be sure you are paying attention to your emotional health as well, managing stress well, as well as seeing a counselor if you feel that you need some additional support navigating through past experiences or feelings (most of us do).
Adding in a combination of few of these ideas into your daily and weekly rhythms will help support not only your liver health but your overall health as well.
