Vegetables Healthiest for Your Liver

Some vegetables are better than others for helping you maintain a healthy liver! In this article, we will take a look at some vegetables that are especially beneficial to your liver health and explain the science behind what makes these vegetables extra liver-friendly.

In this article:

Vegetables for Liver Nutrition
Beetroot
Carrots
Cruciferous Vegetables
Bitter Leafy Salad Greens
Amsety Bars

Vegetables for liver nutrition

Your liver is responsible for carrying-out a variety of functions in your body, so it is crucial that you maintain a liver-healthy diet and limit your intake of unhealthy foods that can damage your liver. By choosing to eat a whole foods diet, you are protecting your liver in the regeneration process, and this will drastically decrease your chances of developing liver disease in the future.

Here are a few of our favorite liver-healthy vegetables that are just as delicious as they are nutritious.

Beets

The colorful vegetable that that is not only liver-healthy and high in antioxidants, but also full of flavor. Beets are an especially handy vegetable to keep in the kitchen because they pair well with many other foods, ranging from goat cheese to smoked salmon.

Adding beets to your diet is also a fantastic way to ensure you are consuming a healthy amount of  enough fiber, folate and pectin. Pectin helps your body cleanse the toxins that have been removed from the live. Several studies by The National Center for Biotechnology Information have shown that beet juice greatly reduces oxidative damage and inflammation in the liver, as well as increases natural detoxification enzymes.

Not usually a fan of beets? Try adding a beet spread to a liver healthy veggie burger or baking them to create crunchy beet chips to eat along with your favorite guacamole. 

Carrots

Yep, carrots are more than rabbit food.  High in carotenoids and beta-carotene (this is what your body converts into vitamin A) carrots are an easy snack to take with you when you’re on-the-go. Carotenoids are fat-soluble, and their consumption stimulates the bile in your system which helps to remove waste. Carrots have also been known to reverse the damaging effects of alcohol in the body. So, next time you eat your carrots, think about the positive impact this is having on your liver.

Try making a bowl of carrot soup or shed some carrots and recreate your favorite pasta dish but substitute the carrots for the noodles.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables such as: brussels sprouts, broccoli and mustard greens, are high in fiber and other beneficial compounds. These vegetables contain chemicals that neutralize certain toxins, such as nitrosamines, which can be found in cigarette smoke, and aflatoxin. A recent study by the Dept. of Research and Development in Palmyra, Wisconsin, found that men with fatty liver greatly benefitted from broccoli sprout extract, for it improved their liver enzyme levels.

To add cruciferous veggies to your diet, try roasting some brussel sprouts with garlic aioli or cook them with a poached egg. You can also prepare a spicy, chipotle dip using yogurt and pair it with fresh pieces of broccoli.

Bitter Leafy Salad Greens

Yes, bitter is sometimes better? Bitter leafy greens such as dandelion, chicory, endive, and rocket are delicious vegetables that can aid your liver health. The bitterness of these foods helps to stimulate the bile flow within the liver and power detoxification. These leafy greens are perfect in any salad or can be made into a soothing herbal tea

Amsety Bars

Ok, we know Amsety Bars are not a vegetable, but they are a healthy alternative if you need a break from the veggies. Amsety bars contain sixteen vitamins and minerals, all of which address the specific needs of a liver healthy diet. Amsety Bars contain no refined sugars, are non-GMO, gluten free, they are low in sodium, and are 100% organic and kosher.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25875121https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25356040
https://www.amsety.com/nutrition-comes-first/
https://www.amsety.com/nutrition-for-liver-care/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722931
http://hbsn.amegroups.com/article/view/2244