The liver is one of our most important organs. However, if you have autoimmune or chronic health issues, it's time to make your liver your new BFF...
You may say to yourself, “Well, I haven’t been a heavy drinker, my liver is probably just fine.” The truth is that for many of us with autoimmune and chronic health conditions, our liver is overburdened.
Our liver does much more than filter the alcohol from the occasional glass of wine, it filters all of the blood that comes from our stomach and intestines. So whatever you eat, medication you take, chemicals that you are exposed to - your liver has the difficult (and unglamorous) job of doing the detox “dirty work.”
For many of us with chronic health conditions, for whatever reason (genetics or otherwise) our liver has been “overworked” - it has too much to do and has difficulty keeping up with all of the demands placed on it. Fortunately, there are things you can do to give your liver a boost!
Eat a clean, nutrient dense (lots of vegetables!) diet and limit pesticide exposure (eat organic) as much as possible.
Incorporate fresh herbs in your cooking, add a spritz of fresh lemon to your water or tea.
Sweat! (Frequent exercise or saunas are great!)
This may be obvious, but limit alcohol use.
Finally, take an assessment of your daily routine and try to “clean it up” if necessary - assess which cleaning products you are using. Are you using nonstick cookware? Are you storing warm or hot foods in plastic containers? Which makeup/personal care products are you putting on your body?
For those of us with health conditions, we don’t want to give our liver extra work - it already has enough to do! There are a number of great “cleaner and healthier” options out there which work just as effectively!
As an example, I love Seventh Generation and Blueland cleaning products! I am also a huge fan of Cuisinart stainless steel cookware - I’ve used it for 14 years and it’s still going strong! My Pyrex glass food storage containers are also in constant use in my kitchen.
If you’re interested in cleaner personal care products, your local Whole Foods, “hippie” grocery store, and some Target stores will likely have a section of cleaner deodorants, lotions, and makeup. Some of my favorite brands are Alba Botanica for lotions and mineral sunscreen. For a more natural deodorant, I really like Schmidt's and also the Primally Pure brand - Blue Tansy scent. I also really like the beauty brand Credo for clean makeup and products.
If you'd like to learn MORE tips on how to best support your health while living with Autoimmune, and learn the 5 part framework that helped me heal my body. Check out my course, The Autoimmune Reset HERE.
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