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4 Ways to Baby Your Liver
Your liver is as vital to your health as your heart and lungs are. But do you know how to keep it healthy?
It can be as simple as living clean, adding crunch, and eyeing your supplements. Here's what we mean by that.
Vital Parts
Your liver isn't just a place to filter out tequila shots. All of the blood that has visited your small intestine flows through the liver, where it gets detoxified. A big job, but something has to do it. Michael Roizen, MD, and Mehmet Oz, MD, RealAge experts and authors of the best-selling, newly expanded YOU: The Owner's Manual,
- Live clean. Reduce your personal pollution so there's less to filter out. Drink filtered water, eat unprocessed foods, choose veggie protein over red meat, and practice safe sex. And yes, keep the mojitos to a minimum. (For a teetotaler drink that's just as festive and tasty, try this Green Tea and Mango Splash.)
- Add crunchy veggies. Cruciferous produce (like broccoli and cabbage), B-rich foods (like whole grains), and high C items (like citrus fruit and leafy greens) assist the liver's detoxifying process. (Here's what else cruciferous veggies do for your health.)
- Consider a supplement. Lecithin (egg yolks and soybeans are good sources) and zinc (look up food sources here) support liver function, and you may want to consider supplementing your diet with them if you don't get much naturally. Herbs like milk thistle and dandelion may help liver function, too, but consult your doctor before taking them.
- Don't take too much vitamin A. If you do, you risk liver problems, including cirrhosis. (Learn more about the dangers of vitamin A overload.)
Get a working knowledge of your body -- and discover more keep-yourself-healthy secrets like these -- with the newly updated and expanded YOU: The Owner's Manual.
RealAge Benefit:
Patrolling your health can make your RealAge as much as 12 years younger.
