There was an article in the December's edition of Women's Health about the festive season and cocktails with benefits. So for those of you getting ready for the Christmas party season, shopping for dresses, looking for that party shirt orthat Christmas jumper I thought I would give you a small shopping list for some healthy ingredients to support your liver the morning after . There are five recipes in the magazine, for this blog I have selected The Morning Special which is good for your liver.
Ingredients: 16 spinach leaves, 1/2 beetroot, 1/2 lemon, 2 apples, 100ml date nectar. Blitz all the ingredients together, then serve over ice.
Beetroot - This beetroot-based beauty is your liver's new best friend thanks to the antioxidant betalain, which will protect it after it's taken a beating. The betalain can help soothe your liver after a night of debauchery, but Polish researchers say it can repair previous damage too.
Spinach - This can pep you up after a heavy night and keep you feeling alert and the Vitamin K improves cognitive function and memory. Just in case you happened to forget what happened at the office party!
Date Nectar - These are rich in selenium, which supports the immune system, plus the natural sweeteners contain fluoride to ward off tooth decay.
I am not endorsing drinking lots of alcohol but I am aware that this does occur at this time of year so instead of being a party pooper I am offering some good healthy tips instead and will be blogging about detoxing in the new year. Here are some more helpful hints:-
1. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables especially broccoli, artichokes, cauliflower, beetroot, celeriac, celery and fennel to help to detoxify the liver.
2. Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily.
3. The herb milk thistle has been proved to help detoxify and regenerate the liver.
4. Take a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral.
5. Dandelion root tea tastes bitter, but is excellent for cleansing the liver.
6. If you eat a meal and have water while you're throwing back those cocktails, your hangover may not be as bad. "Having food in your stomach while drinking reduces how high your peak blood-alcohol concentration gets by about a third," (WebMD).
In past blogs I have written about my current cleanse of which I am on day 23 out of 28. This really helps the liver detoxify any toxins and allows the liver to continue it's central role in the production of hormones, immune modulators, nutrients, the removal of unhealthy cholesterol, allergens and use hormones. If this finely tuned detoxification system is compromised ill health can develop (Wild Nutrition). Therefore, doing this cleanse in January would really help this system get back into balance after the festive season. Click here for more information on our cleanse programme.
Enjoy the parties and keep healthy.