Liver Care for Beautiful Skin
Magazines may preach the value of expensive creams, high-quality make up and other miracle topical systems for your skin, but true beauty starts on the inside.
Believe it or not, one of the most important things you can do to have beautiful skin is take care of your liver.
The liver is responsible for turning all of the toxins in the body from fat-soluble to water soluble. When toxins become water-soluble, they can be flushed from our bodies through our urine.
If the liver is sluggish, or being bombarded by toxins, it won't work as quickly. Toxins will remain in the body, and have a big impact on the skin.
Impact of a sluggish liver
These skin conditions are often caused by poor liver health (and are a great indicator of overall well-being in the body):
- Dermatitis
- Eczema
- Premature aging and wrinkling of the skin
- Brown liver spots which make you look older
- Red itchy rashes anywhere in your body
- Deep painful rashes which may lead to ulcers
- Hives
- Psoriasis
- Acne rosacea on the face – this causes small red pimples which affect the cheeks, the chin and area around the nose and small yellow heads may occur on the top of the pimples
If you notice any of these recurring, you may need to start looking at your liver health.
Foods that support the liver
Luckily the liver is an incredible organ, and regenerates itself every 5 months! This is great news for your skin health: if you've been hard on your liver for a while, a 5 month stint of healthy eating can save the day (and your skin).
Chlorella/ Spirulina
While chlorella and spirulina aren't necessarily foods you just pick up at the grocery story, they're often key components in green powders meant for smoothies. If you're a smoothie-in-the-morning person, check the ingredients list and invest in some greens powder for a daily liver boost.
Garlic
Not just delicious - garlic is packed with allicin and selenium, both of which cleanse and tone the liver.
Lemons, limes and grapefruit
I always recommend warm water with lemon in the morning - it rehydrates the body after 8 hours without drinking fluids, and the citrus of the lemon helps to flush the liver of toxins. Eating grapefruit and squeezing a lime into your soda water will have the same effect.
Beets
All hail the mighty beet! Beets are full of flavonoids, which love up your liver and rid it of harmful toxins. Eating your beets raw (grated onto salads, for instance) or juiced is the best way to get these flavonoids to work their magic.
Leafy Greens
Is there anything kale can't do?! Leafy greens (kale, spinach, romaine, bok choy, etc.) contain chlorophyll and minerals that support your liver.
Turmeric
Curcumin, found in high quantity in the spice turmeric, is one of the most anti-inflammatory things we can consume. Best way to incorporate turmeric? Think curry. It also tastes great in scrambled eggs.
Liver
Makes sense, right? If you're buying fresh liver from happy, pasture-raised animals, you're getting everything your body needs for a healthy... liver.
Incorporating at least one of these foods into your diet every day, while minimizing things like coffee and alcohol, will have an enormous impact on your liver.
Want radiant skin? Go inwards!