Fifty Ways to Love Your Liver
Simon Says: Be nice to your Liver! Here are fifty ways to love your liver. This organ detoxifies the body. We can help it do its job by treating it well. Here goes: 1. Avoid pesticides in your food (non-organic means pesticide-laden)
2. Avoid underarm deodorants that contain aluminum (most do). Aluminum is a neurotoxin that the liver has a hard time getting rid of and has been implicated in Alzheimers. 3. Cut down – way down – on high glycemic carbohydrates which turn rapidly into sugar in the body. 4. Avoid Margarine and other trans-fats. 5. Avoid conventional corn products since they are almost all made from genetically modified (GM) corn which has been engineered to tolerate dosing with glyphosphate (Monsanto’s Round-up is a trade name for glyphosphate), a “likely carcinogen” according to the World Health Organization. 6. Don’t let your dentist put silver amalgam fillings in your mouth. Amalgams may be silver in color, but they are more than 50% mercury, a neurotoxin, which likes to hide in your liver as well as several other organs that you’re probably fond of like your heart, brain and kidneys.
7. Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). It works on the liver like alcohol does.It's become so common that there's even a term: NAFLD - Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
8. Avoid Sugar. Sugar is inflammatory to the circulatory system. Inflamed membranes give off toxins which the liver tries to deal with.
9. Limit consumption of alcohol
10. Avoid manufactured “gluten free” products like breads and cracker since most are made of high glycemic ingredients like corn-starch, tapioca, etc. Just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. Mountain Dew soda is gluten free, for example.
11. Avoid most commercial baked goods since most use a baking powder than contains aluminum, a neurotoxin.
12. Don’t use aluminum cookware unless it’s clad with stainless steel or ceramics. Did you ever notice that grayish floaty stuff in an aluminum pot of boiled water and wonder what it was?
13. Don’t use Teflon (R) coated cookware. Did you ever notice that most of the Teflon coating has flaked off that old frying pan? Where do you think those flakes ended up? There’s stainless steel or ceramic or glass that’s generally fine to use.
14. Avoid drinking bottled water unless it is bottled in glass or “BPA free” containers. Most plastic disposably water bottles are made with plastic that contains BPA (bisphenol-A), a powerful hormone disrupter.
15. Avoid soft flexible plastic storage containers for your leftover food – use glass containers instead. (Plastic lids are OK if the lids aren’t touching the food.)
16. If you do insist on using plastic food storage containers, at least allow the food to cool first.
17. Avoid anything that has artificial food coloring added (like Blue #2, etc.) Most are known carcinogens (which means cancer causing). Why would you want to consume any amount of it for the momentary pleasure of putting something colorful into your mouth – even the small amounts that the FDA deems to be safe?
18. Avoid processed meats that have been cured with nitrates and nitrites. If they preserve meat, what are they doing to you?
19. Avoid conventionally raised chicken. Besides being fed genetically modified corn and soybeans, most conventionally raised chickens are fed an arsenic compound to stimulate their hunger up right up to within a couple of weeks before slaughter. Arsenic is a poison.
20. Avoid non-organic milk, since almost all cows are fed grain to increase milk production and you can assume that nearly all conventionally raised cows are eating genetically modified corn and soybeans and most are being injected with rGHH, a growth hormone. Have you ever wondered why puberty is happening at an earlier age these days?
21. Avoid conventionally raised i.e, non-organic, beef since it has almost always been fed genetically modified corn and soybeans with its infusion of glyphosphate or similar for the last six months of its life. Don’t be fooled by the term “grass-fed,” which can be used it the animal has access to grass or if lived on pasture at one time (which almost all beef cattle do). The meaningful terms are “organic” and “grass finished.”
22. Don’t use chemical hand cleaners – you skin is porous and absorbs whatever you put on it.
23. Wear a good respirator if you’re working around toxic chemicals or paints, particularly in confined spaces.
24. Check your shower soap and shampoo. How many chemical names on the bottles defy pronunciation?
25. Air out your house frequently to reduce the build-up of airborne chemicals from carpets, fabrics, etc.
26. Don’t use air fresheners that have a lot of hard-to-pronounce chemicals; there are air fresheners now that use pure natural essences - like spearmint oil, etc.
27. Filter your drinking water at home to remove chlorine, fluoride, etc. unless you are on a tested well and know what’s in your water.
28. Don’t use artificial sweeteners. Even sugar is better. Stevia is OK. Honey in moderation is fine.
29. Consider taking a silymarin (milk thistle) supplement daily.
30. Eat some garlic to activate liver enzymes. Kyolic makes de-flavored capsules.
31. Eat grapefruit or drink some grapefruit juice to flush out your liver.
32. Drink a little green tea every day.
33. Use olive oil - Cold-pressed organic extra virgin olive oil can help the liver remove toxins since many toxins, such as hydrocarbons, can be absorbed by oils but not by water. Good quality olive oil can assist the liver by mobilizing and transporting toxins out of the body.
34. Broccoli, cauliflower, collards, and Brussel sprouts increase glucosinolate which aids in liver enzyme production which, in turn can flush out carcinogens, and other toxins.
35.. Drink a glass of good quality water with a half of a lemon or lime to start the day. The Vitamin C can disable some toxins and the bioflavonoids are also beneficial
36. Buy a rebounder and jump on it every day. It activates your lymph system which helps remove toxins from your whole body.
37. Breathe fresh air.
38. Consider taking a curcumin capsule or use some turmeric on your food every day – a powerful anti-oxidant.
39. Add some bitter greens like arugala, mustard greens, and dandelion greens into your diet to stimulate the production of bile.
40. If you drink coffee, wean yourself off cream which opposes the natural bitterness of the coffee. The bitterness of coffee improves bile production from the liver which is necessary to digest fats.
41. Eat leafy greens such as spinach, chard, kale and some darker lettuces for the chlorophyll which is able to assist the liver by disabling toxins.
42. Use sea salt instead of plain table salt or consider taking a potassium tablet daily to counterbalance the predominance of sodium in our diets.
43. Resist the temptation to inject your skin with colorful chemicals known as tattoos.
44. Avoid acetaminophen.
45. Avoid raw shellfish like oysters.
46. Don’t smoke. Do I really need to say more?
47. Avoid unprotected sex – among other potential risks, there is also the risk of Hepatitis C, a difficult to cure disease
48. Avoid using garden and landscaping chemicals (pesticides) except to the minimum extent necessary
49. If planning a trip, consider getting immunized against hepatitis A and B. Hepatitis A can be contracted through contaminated food and water. Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver and very unpleasant.
50. Eat Good Food, avoid harsh chemicals and let the liver do its job!
