Liver Health on Plant-Based Diet GWilkerson05/29/2015 Plant Based Nutrition
How important is my liver health? Our liver is a very important organ. We can’t live without it. Chronic liver disease is the twelfth cause of death (about 27,500 deaths per year). 21,000 people die yearly from liver cancer. Keeping the liver healthy is an important priority for good health that most people tend to ignore. From WellSource:
How Healthy Foods Can Protect Your Liver
Diet may be an important and modifiable cause of liver disease. An 18-year study on liver health (9,221 people) found that people eating a lot of cholesterol in their diet are at increased risk for liver disease. In this study, people eating the most cholesterol (top 25 percent) were more than twice as likely to develop chronic liver disease than those eating the least cholesterol (bottom 25 percent).
Liver diagram Cholesterol is only found in animal foods, so is this finding implicating dietary cholesterol per say or the foods cholesterol is associated with (meats and dairy products)? When the researchers looked at protein intake, they also found that a high protein intake was linked to a 37 percent higher risk of liver disease (most animal products are high in protein). People eating a higher carbohydrate intake had a 58 percent lower risk of developing liver disease during the 18-year study. Plant-based foods tend to be lower in protein and higher in carbohydrates. Here is an interesting post from The Plant-Based Pharmacist:
Loving Your Liver
What does my liver do? Read anything about the liver lately? Although the liver is a topic not often written about, it is an amazing organ that sadly doesn’t get the publicity it deserves. The responsibilities of the liver are too numerous to mention. At this moment our liver is cleaning our blood, regulating blood clotting, converting fats, proteins, and carbohydrates into energy and nutrients, and helping our body to resist infection. It regulates many of our body’s functions including that of cholesterol, the supply of essential vitamins and minerals, and the balance of many hormones. It is producing bile that breaks down fats and is eliminating fat-soluble toxins and excess hormones. The Liver is entrusted to eliminate pesticides, herbicides, paint, cigarette smoke, bacteria, fungus, exhaust fumes, plastics, heavy metals, cleaning products, mold, and more. Dustin Rudolph, PharmD. is the author of this great book:
. If you are looking for a great book that is a resource for the How and the Why of a plant-based diet they this is the book for you! This book is easy to understand, you won’t get lost or bogged down like so many other books. You’ll also be encouraged by the incredible stories that are shared by the author of people overcoming illness, reversing and eliminating disease. Part 1 discusses the major health problems we face today including obesity, heart disease, type 2 Diabetes, Cancer, and others. Part 2 begins with a discussion of what a healthy diet looks like and the problems with animalbased foods and processed foods. Then it moves into living a healthy lifestyle as well as setting straight many of the fallacies of “healthy living.” Part 3 is full of delicious recipes that contain little to no added salt, sugar or fat. You’ll find Breakfast, Smoothies and Shakes, Soups, Salads Chili & Stew, Burgers, Wraps & Rolls, Dressings, Dips & Sauces, Main Dishes and Desserts. I highly recommend this book for Anybody looking to improve their health status, especially if you currently have health issues.
Keeping our liver healthy
We can boost our liver health and stitll not get overwhelmed. To help the liver relieve its burden, we can: Identify and avoid exposure to toxins Not smoke Eat organic whenever possible to eliminate ingesting toxins, hormones, and antibiotics found in food Drink half your weight in ounces of water daily to help with elimination Exercise – create a sweat to facilitate elimination of toxins through the skin Eliminate saturated fats, trans fats, white flour, and white sugar from our diet
Include the following in your diet: ➣ Oranges
➣ Garlic
➣ Lemons
➣ Parsley
➣ Green cabbage
➣ Carrots
➣ Brussels sprouts
➣ Cilantro
➣ Tomatoes
➣ Apples
➣ Ginger
➣ Beans
➣ Onions collard greens
➣ Greens like kale, dandelion, spinach, mustard and
➣ Garlic
➣ Parsley Liver Regeneration
The liver has the greatest regenerative capacity of any organ in the body. Within a week after partial hepatectomy, which, in typical experimental settings entails surgical removal of twothirds of the liver, hepatic mass is back essentially to what it was prior to surgery. Conclusion
For good liver health, avoid toxins in your food, air, water and environment,including alcohol. For the liver to regenerate, consume whole plant based foods that help it heal itself. It’s always best not to consume things that cause fatty liver, liver cancer or other diseases. A balanced diet with adequate calories, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates – can help the damaged liver to regenerate new liver cells. http://www.plant-strong-health-blog-by-gary.com/liver-health-on-plant-based-diet/