Remove Toxic and Inflammatory Foods
Water and diet are the first places to start detoxing your liver. Caffeine, alcohol, processed foods with refined sugar, unhealthy fats, additives, and preservatives do the opposite of detoxing your liver. You should also remove inflammatory foods such as gluten and dairy.
Many citrus fruits, including lemon, can be added to water to help stimulate and flush out the liver. Lemons are high in nutrients like vitamin C and antioxidants. To help prevent liver disease, enjoy four to six tablespoons of lemon juice mixed with water each day.
Advocates claim that conducting a cleanse with apple cider vinegar helps to flush toxins from the body, regulate blood sugar levels, and encourage healthy weight loss, all of which can improve liver health. However, there's little scientific support for these claims.
Research shows that people who drink a lot of soft drinks are more likely to have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Studies don't prove that the drinks were the cause. But if you down a lot of sodas and have been meaning to cut back, this could be a good reason to switch what you sip.
"Alcohol is the worst drink for your liver as it makes it harder on the liver to break down and remove toxins from the body," says Minerva Valencia, RD.
Drinking a large amount of water is essential for your liver's detoxification. It removes the toxins and flushes the liver tissues. A great tip for drinking water is to add a pinch of lemon drops in it. Which stimulates bile to remove toxins and gallbladder contractions as well.
A 2021 review of research notes that several studies determined that two to four weeks of abstinence from alcohol by heavy-alcohol users helped reduce inflammation and bring down elevated serum levels in the liver. In short: A few weeks off will help. But the longer you can abstain from alcohol, the better.
7+ Days After Alcohol Consumption
It typically takes seven days for the liver to detox but a couple of months for the symptoms to eventually disappear.
A liver detox, cleanse, or flush is a program that claims to take out toxins in your body, help you lose weight, or improve your health. You want to do everything you can to take an active role in your health. But if you think you need a liver detox, you should know that there isn't much it can do for you.
Avoid processed foods, fats, animal proteins, and refined sugars for a few days. Eat healthy, fresh, and a good amount of raw fruits and vegetables that help the liver clean itself faster. You can also consume many fresh juices to give your digestive system a short break at the same time.
A liver blood test measures the levels of various things in your blood, like proteins, liver enzymes, and bilirubin. This can help check the health of your liver and for signs of inflammation or damage. Your liver can be affected by: liver infections — like hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Some people with liver disease experience skin itching all over their body or in specific areas, like the feet or arms. Itchiness is not a symptom of liver disease on its own, though. Liver disease is a condition affecting your liver's ability to function.
Signs and symptoms
However, as your liver loses its ability to function properly, you're likely to experience a loss of appetite, nausea and itchy skin. In the later stages, symptoms can include jaundice, vomiting blood, dark, tarry-looking stools, and a build-up of fluid in the legs (oedema) and abdomen (ascites).
A stressed liver impacts the overall body functions – it may cause ringing in the ears, insomnia, dizziness, blurry vision, allergies, no sex drive, internal or intestinal bleeding, sensitivities to chemicals, PMS, drastic weight loss and spider veins.
According to the American Liver Foundation, there are no medical treatments – yet – for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So that means that eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly are the best ways to both prevent liver damage from starting or reverse liver disease once it's in the early stages.