Part 4
In my previous post, you would of seen how liver detoxification works, what the liver detoxifies, what can go wrong in this process and how to tell if your liver is struggling.
Why supporting your liver is important
Your liver works really hard all the time to clean and eliminate waste from your body. When your liver is not working properly, it can impact other functions in your body and lead to inflammation, as well as contribute toward disease.
A poor functioning liver can be as a result of poor diet and lifestyle, inflammation, and genetic variations in biochemical pathways of the body.
Keeping your detoxification pathway operating efficiently will prevent toxins building up in our organs and tissues.
Functions of the liver
The liver performs many different functions apart from removing waste.
- metabolism of proteins, carbs and fats
- produces bile to aid in digestion
- prevents cholesterol building up
- metabolizes food, drugs, hormones and much more.
- NBK535438/
Supporting Phase 1
In my previous post posted stated, your liver detoxes in three phases, for each phase different enzymes are involved. A DNA genetic test can tell you how your enzymes are functioning and which phase you need to support (if you have sub optimal enzyme functionality).
Decreased activity or deletion in phase 1 of enzymes has been associated with cancer and other diseases.
main support
- reduce your toxin exposure
- increase your antioxidant support
secondary support
- N-Acetyl cysteine
- glutathione
- increase cruciferous veg
Support phase 2
If you have a normal phase 1 but a slow phase 2, you need to focus on support this phase through:
Main focus:
- N-Acetyl cysteine
- Ca-D_Glucarate
- increase cruciferous veg
- supplement with DIM or sulforaphane
secondary support
- reduce toxin exposure
- increase your antioxidant support
Improving Detoxification
We need a large variety of nutrients: vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to support the liver:
- rosemary
- onions, garlic, leeks
- cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower
- turmeric and cumin
- cranberries, strawberries, blueberries
- olive oil
- almonds, brazil nuts
- fresh fruit and veg daily
- whole and unprocessed foods
- 6 glasses of water a day
- fiber foods (quinoa, wild/brown rice, flaxseed, chia)
- physical activity
Look after your liver and it will serve you well. One such way is to get DNA testing to see how your detoxification pathway is operating. Any enzyme functionality problems or deletions in GST enzymes can impair this process.