Protect Your Liver And Your Bones With These Four Foods

Today we'll look at the liver and its critical role in filtering toxins from your body and enabling you to absorb crucial bone-building nutrients.

Then you'll learn about four foods that detoxify your liver so it can do what it does best: keep your body (including your bones) healthy and strong.

All About The Liver

Your liver is high in your abdomen, just below your diaphragm, and it's quite large– about the size of a football. Its functions include detoxification and the synthesis of compounds that aid digestion.

As a detoxifier, the liver filters toxic compounds from the body by breaking them down into compounds that can be excreted in the urine. This includes toxins that can interfere with healthy bone remodeling, as well as all prescription medications.

The liver also handles protein metabolism (amino acids), fats, and carbohydrates– a remarkably wide variety of essential macronutrients.

This organ also plays a critical role in digestion. It continuously produces bile, which is stored in the gallbladder. Bile has the ability to break down fats. Without bile, you can't absorb bone-healthy fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E, and K.

On top of all of this, the liver also acts as a storehouse for important vitamins and minerals– making them available when needed. It also stores glycogen, the molecule your body converts into glucose for energy.

Synopsis

The liver is a large organ that plays a number of important roles. It filters toxins from the body and metabolizes essential compounds like proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. It produces bile, which your digestive system needs to absorb bone-healthy fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E, and K, and stores glycogen as an energy reserve.

Bone Health And Your Liver

A great number of the liver's functions have a direct impact on the health and strength of your bones. The bile produced by the liver allows for the absorption of bone-essential vitamins. Without those vitamins, your bones would lack strength– just consider the importance of Vitamin D for calcium absorption, the primary building block of bone.

The toxic compounds and metabolic by-products that the liver filters from the body are acifiying. If the liver wouldn't remove them, the body would have to maintain its pH balance by resorbing alkalizing minerals from bone– increasing the risk of bone loss.

Studies have confirmed this cause-and-effect by examining the impact of liver disease on osteoblast function. Osteoblasts are bone cells in charge of depositing new, healthy, and more ductile bone. The researchers suggested that the compounds which would normally be filtered from the body were inhibiting the osteoblasts’ ability to create new bone mass.¹

Synopsis

The liver supports bone health by facilitating the absorption of bone-essential vitamins and by filtering acidifying toxins from the body. This is crucial for the body's ability to create new bone.

Four Foods That Support A Healthy Liver

The imperative of a healthy and high-functioning liver is clear. So let's look at four ways to support liver health through diet. These four foods have all been proven to offer liver-boosting properties– and they each provide nutrients that are essential for your bones.

Beetroot – Beets are a root vegetable easily recognized by their dark purple-red coloration. Beets are excellent sources of folate, Vitamin C, manganese, magnesium and copper– all Foundation Supplements. Additionally, beets contain the bioactive compound betaine and a variety of polyphenols. Studies have shown that beets have a liver-protective effect, thanks to their robust variety of phytonutrients.²

Grapefruit – Grapefruit is an excellent source of Vitamins A and C as well as copper and potassium. It also contains a lesser-known antioxidant named naringenin. Found in other citrus fruits as well, naringenin activates proteins that cause the liver to break down fatty acids and increases insulin sensitivity. This helps to regulate blood glucose levels which is beneficial for your bones, and is especially important for people with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston noted evidence that it may actually protect the liver from damage.³

Walnuts – Walnuts are most notable for their large concentration of essential fatty acids (EFAs). The nut's ability to boost Omega-3 levels has been linked to increased bone strength. The same fatty acids also offer benefits to the liver. Researchers found that nuts like walnuts had a positive impact on the liver health of patients with non-acloholic fatty liver disease.⁴

Blueberries – The remarkable polyphenol content of blueberries makes them powerful bone-builders. A study on the effects of blueberries on liver health found that this humble fruit significantly increased important antioxidant components in the liver. Those antioxidants protect the liver from oxidative damage.⁵

Synopsis

Beetroot, grapefruit, walnuts, and blueberries have all been found to have liver-protective qualities. Incorporate them into your diet to support the health of your liver and your bones.

What This Means To You

A healthy liver is essential for strong and healthy bones. Fortunately, you can help maintain your liver’s health by eating liver-detoxifying foods.

A more potent way to boost the health of your body's filtration system is with the Save Institute's bone-building cleanse.

The Osteoporosis Fresh Start Cleanse is a seven-day process that flushes the toxins from your body, allowing your liver to rest and recover. It will leave you energized, refreshed, and ready to make renewed progress toward your bone health goals.

References

¹ https://www.jofem.org/index.php/jofem/article/view/250/319

² https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17234508/

³ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0012399

⁴ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588084/

⁵ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20382588/