A clogged liver triggers fat and fatigue in 90% of men and women over 40 years of age. For every 10 years over 40 it takes at least a month of clean detoxification to get your liver to reignite and burn calories for slimming your body.
Back in Biology class we learned that every organ has a job: The heart pumps blood around the body, the lungs provide oxygen and the kidneys excrete waste. But when we get to the liver, things get more complicated. The liver has many jobs. It is the chemical processing plant of the body. It takes cholesterol and converts it into hormones. It dictates whether we store fat or burn it for fuel. The liver works hard, but for many men and women over 40, it is not working optimally. Sadly, the liver tends to get tired with age, especially if you’re under stress or carrying excess fat. You can think of your liver like a partially clogged drain: it’s still working, but at a much slower pace! The result: By the age of 40, up to 90% of men and women are battling with excess pounds caused by an exhausted liver struggling to process medications, sugar, alcohol, excess hormones and toxins.
Once the liver is bogged down, it begins to store fat rather than burn it. When the liver is bombarded by must-process chemicals, the body says, "We need more garbage bags to store all this garbage!" Those garbage bags store all this garbage. Those garbage bags are fat cells. The body stores the bags in places like the belly, back, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. But when the liver gets really overloaded, it can’t even be bothered to deposit fat in your trouble zones. Instead the liver shifts to storing fat within the gland itself, and that starts to dramatically clog the works.
When the liver reaches this stage of being bogged-down and clogged up, it can’t keep producing the hormones that help burn fat. It slows down the production of the hormone’s cortisol, testosterone, and estrogen, which directs the breakdown of body fat for fuel. The body holds on to that fat instead. And it holds on tight to the fat! As your hormones become increasingly imbalanced, the body becomes increasingly weight-loss resistant. Of all the organs the liver is the most affected by what you eat. So, if you nourish it with the right fats, amino acids and phytonutrients, it can regenerate. There are studies that show subjects who followed a 30-day detox improved liver function by 53%, plus reported a 44% reduction in toxin related symptoms like fatigue, brain fog and insomnia. Just by avoiding animal proteins like beef and pork as well as simple carbs and saturated fats reduced risk factors for liver disease by 50% and lowered fat accumulation in people with liver disease by 236%. When the liver works properly your health benefits increase optimally.
Nourishing the often overworked organ with liver-supporting foods can jump-start fat burning in 30 days. Each nutrient you put into your body triggers the release of a different compound that allows the liver to function optimally.
Step One: Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. When you wake up, your body shifts from a rest and restoration phase to a fat-burn phase. In order for the liver to start making the switch, it needs fuel in the form of micronutrients. The quicker you add these to the mix, the more effective the liver can be. Following breakfast, you must eat every 3 hours to ensure the liver is constantly fueled. In building your meals, you’ll fill up on fruits and vegetables, low healthy fats like nuts. The fruits must be low-sugar fruit to fuel the liver, while avoiding processed foods, grains, beans, corn, sugar and dairy, which inhibit the liver’s production of fat-burning hormones. These items lower your body’s ability to utilize and gain testosterone. Items such as soy also increase the female dominant hormone, estrogen, which causes added weight gain and harms the liver as well. You should also aim to drink half your bodyweight in ounces of water every day. Water helps to regulate calorie intake in addition to keeping your liver healthy. But your secret weapons are the foods that support the liver and help it eliminate fat and toxins. None of these foods should be eaten as processed drinks. Eat the whole food version for best benefits.
There are a few items you can add to your nutritional diet to help aid the reduction of the belly bulge:
Grapefruit delivers a compound (d-limonene) that activates key detox enzymes, improving the liver’s ability to flush harmful toxins and burn fat by up to 30%. It also contains unique phytonutrients that burn fat and help intensify liver metabolism. Snack on whole grapefruit to get the benefits.
Mushrooms are high in fiber, which start the burning process for fat loss. Mushrooms contain compounds that help restore and strengthen the liver. According to scientists at Georgetown University, eating mushrooms can kick-start fat burn within 48 hours and help you shed up to 5 extra pounds of belly fat per month.
Sunflower Seeds help the liver banish stubborn belly fat. The seeds have very high levels of lecithin, which is one of the compounds the gallbladder uses to dissolve and break down fat. You can snack on them by the handful daily or blend ¼ cup of them into a smoothie to optimize fat burning.
Coconut oil is made up of medium-chain fatty acids-the liver’s favorite Kind of Fat! The Proof: Medium-Chain Fatty acids have been shown to increase metabolism by 56%. To get the perks, cook with1 tsp. Coconut oil or add it to smoothies daily.
Fennel stimulates the production of bile to help speed the breakdown of fat. Truthfully regularly eating bitter foods like fennel can increase your metabolism by 53%. Adding ½ to 1 Tbs. of fennel to meals. Fennel is especially good at eliminating lumpy, bumpy belly fat and cellulite.
Turmeric is best known as a potent anti-inflammatory, but it can also help the liver break up fatty deposits in the body. I recommend 1 tsp. of turmeric a day. Spices like turmeric increase blood flow, helping to break up fat deposits. The Payoff: Turmeric has been shown to whittle away 30% of your waistline in as little as 90-days.
By implementing these 6 foods into your diet as well as changing many other habits you could lose 30% of your weight within 120-150 days. Speedy fat burn is the beginning. As I stated before, of all the organs the liver is the most affected by what you eat. Decreasing your chance of liver disease by 50% by optimizing the foods you eat is a must. When the liver is working optimally, you have fewer blood sugar-regulation issues and far fewer sugar cravings. I will personally provide a 30-day Liver Cleanse Eating Plan for chapter members to follow with our Healthy Initiatives Committee for those brothers willing to step up and take our challenge starting in July 2020.
Please contact our committee if you want to sign up for the Liver Weight Loss Detox.
-Fred Reeves