How can I keep my liver healthy over the festive season?

With a hint of festive cheer in the air, and our calendars inching closer to Christmas and New Year joy and celebration, it is worth taking the time now to give your liver a little extra support and protection. The Christmas period, filled with parties and family get-togethers, is synonymous with an increase in consumption of alcohol, sugar and unhealthy fats, and these can all take a toll on your liver.  

The liver is a highly metabolic organ, which performs over 500 functions essential for digestive health, hormone regulation as well as the detoxification and excretion of waste products. Your liver needs optimal levels of amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals in order to function well, and we also need consider the extra burden we put on our livers to detoxify at this time of year. 

So, let’s have a look at some of the ways we can keep our livers, and health, in tip top shape over the Christmas period:

Lemon & warm water

Start the day with the juice of half a lemon squeezed into some warm water - Lemon juice is highly nutrient dense: a great source of vitamin C, as well as nutrients such as B vitamins, magnesium, copper and powerful phytonutrients, flavonoids, carotenoids which can help to protect the liver against oxidative damage. Lemon may also protect the liver from the effects of consuming too much alcohol. 

Drink alcohol mindfully

Alcohol tends to be the focal point throughout the festive season, and while we don’t suggest you abstain from your tipple of choice, there are ways to reduce the burden that alcohol puts on your liver. 

Savour your drink – take your time to pay attention to how a drink looks, smells and tastes. This will help you to slow down and give your mind and body time to register the effects of alcohol.

Alternate drinks with a glass of water

This will help you to stay hydrated as well as pace yourself. It’s important that you drink water, and not sugar-sweetened soft drinks in place of alcohol – as these have been shown to also be harmful to liver health.

Focus on your surroundings

Take the focus off drinking at your festive get-togethers. Instead, give your attention to engaging in meaningful conversation with friends and family and enjoying the activities.

Have a break from drinking alcohol

If you know you will be drinking at an event, try not to have an alcoholic drink in the days before or afterwards. This will allow your liver to properly rest.

Keep hydrated

Filtered or mineral water is preferable. Aim for 2 litres a day as staying well hydrated is very important for liver health and detoxification, as water helps the transport and excretion of waste products. Herbal teas are also a great way to get more water into your day.  

Fill your plate with veggies

A higher intake of plant foods has been associated with improved liver health, so aim to eat 8-12 portions of a variety of different vegetables each day. This might be through adding vegetables into more meals (think spinach, avocado and tomatoes at breakfast), snacking on raw vegetables dipped into salsa, or loading at least half of your plate with vegetables at each meal. Especially liver-supportive veggies include: 

Cruciferous and brassica vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts and watercress, as well as leeks and garlic, can be particularly helpful in promoting liver detoxification due to their unique sulphur-containing compounds. 

Eat a rainbow

The pigments that give plant foods their vibrant colours can also give us a range of health benefits. Different colours give different benefits to liver health, such as protecting against oxidative stress and supporting detoxification pathways, so try and get a full spectrum of different colours of plant foods each day.  

Focus on gut health

The gut and liver are intrinsically linked, so it’s also important to support your digestive health, especially over the festive period when dietary changes can disrupt our gut bacteria. If we don’t have regular bowel movements, toxins and waste hormones can get reabsorbed into the body, putting additional burden on our liver. Increasing your intake of plant foods and staying hydrated can help to promote gut motility, and a multi-strain probiotic supplement or prebiotic supplement could help to support the gut. 

Liver Supporting Supplements 

•              The liver relies on a range of different nutrients to perform at peak, so a comprehensive multivitamin and mineral could be a great place to start. 

•              A number of herbal ingredients have a long history of safe and traditional use for supporting liver health, including milk thistle, dandelion, curcumin, burdock and artichoke. 

•              Phytonutrients such as beta-carotene, broccoli and green tea have been shown to support detoxification pathways in the liver and help to protect against oxidative stress.