Liver detox diets are meal plans that incorporate all liver-healthy foods in an attempt to improve liver function.
In addition to participating in a liver cleanse, your doctor may advise losing weight for liver health benefits.
One of the main causes of liver disease is poor diet and obesity brought on by the excessive consumption of processed food and fast foods.
To detox your liver and boost metabolism for a healthy weight, here are some liver detox recipes for weight loss.
Check with your doctor and determine a treatment plan before beginning your weight loss journey.
What is a Liver Detox?
A liver detox is a diet intended for liver cleansing in folks with elevated liver enzymes, fatty liver disease, or other liver issues.
It includes whole foods, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods.
The goal of the detox is to remove toxins in the liver caused by poor diet, environmental issues, or drinking excess alcohol.
Not only can your liver improve on a detox, but the healthy foods included in this diet can help improve skin health, eye health, digestion, and prevent inflammation.
Many unhealthy foods can cause inflammation in the body, which over time can lead to many negative health effects such as heart attack, stroke, or liver disease.
What Healthy Meals Can I Eat on a Detox?
There are so many healthy meal options on a liver detox!
Many start their day with a healthy smoothie recipe, as it is a great way to get tons of nutrients in one glass.
Make a smoothie recipe with your favorite liver-healthy fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
Be sure to incorporate fruits specifically with vitamin C in your daily diet!
Whole sources of vitamin C can help restore gut and liver function, according to this 2018 study.
Poor vitamin C intake is associated with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of diseases that can increase the risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Excess fat consumption can lead to gut inflammation, which vitamin C and E helped treat in this same study.
All in all, meals high in vitamins benefit your organs better than foods with low nutritional value.
Salads containing many veggies such as cucumber, spinach, tomatoes, or avocado are diverse and delicious.
Dishes containing lean meats such as chicken and turkey are high-energy protein sources that assist with cleansing the liver.
Green tea is an antioxidant-rich favorite drink of those on a liver cleanse.
You can mix your tea with berries, cucumber, or plant milk for an extra health boost.
What Foods Should I Give Up for Liver Health?
Now that we have seen what foods to add to our liver detox diet let’s examine which foods to give up for the sake of liver function.
Avoid these foods on your detox:
- Processed, packaged food
- Fast food
- Excess refined sugar
- Too much sodium
- Fried food
- Saturated fat
- Sweet baked goods
- Gluten
- Simple carbohydrates
- Red meat
Basically, any foods not found in the fresh section of the grocery store can be left at the door.
Boxed, packaged, processed foods may be the most challenging foods to abstain from.
They are readily available, taste good, and are easy to eat mindlessly.
These foods can lead to inflammation that can add more toxins to your liver, which is why they should be avoided on this diet.
Also, watch out for high sugar content in both food and drinks.
Many types of juice and soda contain heaps of sugar, which you want to cut out on a liver detox.
Too much simple sugar can cause a fatty buildup around the liver; it was found that sugar influences the liver like alcohol when consumed in large amounts.
When making your morning smoothie, coffee, or tea, abstain from adding any sugar when on this cleanse.
What Vitamins and Minerals are Needed for a Healthy Liver?
You want to diversify your nutrient intake by eating a wide variety of fresh foods.
Beginning the day with a smoothie, followed by a veggie salad, and finishing with a lean protein with healthy fats is one way of sticking to this healthy meal plan while diversifying the vitamins.
Look for natural foods with these essential nutrients:
- Omega-3 fatty acids (avocado, walnuts, flax, salmon)
- Vitamin C (citrus fruits, sweet potatoes)
- Vitamin E (seeds, leafy greens)
- Choline (eggs, fish, beans, nuts)
- Vitamin D (tuna, mackerel, salmon)
- Omega-6 fatty acids (soybeans, corn, nuts, seeds)
- Zinc (whole grains, oysters)
- Lecithin (seafood, eggs, green veggies, legumes)
I generally follow the phytonutrient food chart, which classifies different healthy foods based on color.
Each color depicts what part of the body that fresh food benefits.
This can be an excellent rule of thumb if you are just now beginning your healthy food journey in an attempt to improve liver function.
Should I Incorporate Lemon Juice into a Liver Detox?
One of the most commonly searched detoxes for the liver is the lemon juice detox.
Many claim that it cleanses the body of all toxins by consuming only lemon water for days.
It’s not only a dangerous way of losing weight, but it is ineffective at detoxing.
If you want to include lemon water for its health benefits, integrate it into your healthy liver diet.
Do not make lemon water your only source of nutrients; it is not the healthy way to do so!
Instead, stick with our liver cleansing recipes and drink lemon water when you are thirsty.
Many say that drinking fresh lemon water has an immediate effect on energy levels, fullness, and hydration.
It can also boost metabolism and weight loss, which is the primary goal of this particular liver detox.
Healthiest Foods for this Cleanse
Your body craves foods that provide rich nutrients and antioxidants.
Once you flush out toxins and begin eating healthy, you will wonder how you ever ate processed or fast foods in the past.
Some health foods to always keep in the fridge or pantry are:
- Dark, leafy greens (spinach, kale, collard greens, turnip greens)
- Bananas
- Green tea
- Plant-based milk
- Ginger
- Apples
- Berries
- Apple cider vinegar
- Cucumber
- Lemon
- Avocado
- Coffee
Incorporating one or more of these foods to make different recipes keeps your diet nutritious, diverse, and anti-inflammatory.
Healthiest Drinks for this Cleanse
Water is the most important beverage on a cleanse.
Drink water whenever you are thirsty to keep your blood vessels healthy and your organs hydrated.
Mix your water with lemon or cucumber as an alternative to juice or soda for a little extra natural flavor.
A cold glass of cucumber water is one of my favorite energizing tips for a midday lull.
Green tea is another antioxidant-rich beverage that can be drunk either hot or cold.
It is a digestion aid, can help boost metabolism, and is plain enough to add healthy flavorings such as fresh ginger, basil leaves, or mint leaves.
Lastly, coffee is a liver-healthy beverage that is recommended for liver cleanses.
Drinking coffee is associated with improved liver enzymes in those with fatty liver disease.
Coffee contains antioxidants and is a familiar taste in many people’s morning routines.
The secret is to consume coffee in moderation. If you are already a coffee drinker, stick with 2-4 cups per day maximum.
Avoid adding excess sugar or cream to your coffee.
Instead, add natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup.
If you can drink it black, do that.
Otherwise, add some unsweetened plant milk for a perfect morning pick-me-up.
Healthiest Everyday Meals for Detox and Weight Loss
Ideally, you want to eat fewer foods with more nutrition on a weight loss cleanse.
One awesome breakfast or snack enjoyed by many folks on a detox is smoothies.
A smoothie consists of multiple fruits, vegetables, juice, water, greens, and other healthy ingredients blended using a high-powered blender.
A good blender and a frozen banana will create a thick, delicious smoothie consistency that is slightly sweet and rich in vitamins.
These drinks are nutritional powerhouses and can keep you full until your next meal.
You also want to eat meals high in protein.
Eating a high-protein diet can boost metabolism, change weight-regulated hormones, and keep you full for a longer duration between meals.
If you are full for longer, that means fewer snacks in between meals.
High-protein, low-fat diets have been found to boost metabolism from 80-100% in healthy young women.
Finally, you’ll also want to integrate lots of light meals, such as soups, salads, and vegetable-based dishes.
These types of meals are usually pretty filling and are low in fat and calories.
And since you are supplementing your meals with high-protein meals, your body will embrace lighter, healthier meals.
Salads containing green kale, spinach, apples, or berries with nuts are a great light lunch.
Blender soups are also a great way to throw a ton of healthy veggies into a pot and call it dinner or lunch. Here are the healthiest liver detox recipes that will also support a healthy weight.
Weight Loss Liver Detox Recipes
While on a detox, you want to remember to drink lots and lots of water.
And yes, that means plain lemon water, too!
Mixing lemon juice into 1 cup of water is a favorite on this detox due to its energizing and hydrating qualities.
All detox recipes have been reviewed by our nutritionist, so each recipe has optimal nutrition for those suffering from obesity or liver disease.
The main weight loss recipes we will cover are smoothies, high-protein dishes, and soups/salads/veggie-based dishes.
The Smoothies
High-Protein Dishes
Soups/Salads/Veggies
Helpful Related Information
In addition to smoothies, juicing is another excellent way to drink your nutrients.
Check out our juicing for weight loss article, where we list our favorite tastiest juice recipes!
Get your protein and other digestion benefits every day with protein shakes, a simple morning drink for weight loss made using your blender.
If you are also struggling with fatty liver disease, you are not alone.
Here is a fatty liver diet menu that can plan your delicious meals for you while being healthy.
Conclusion
The process of losing weight for the sake of your liver is hard but worth it.
By using these recipes on your weight loss journey, your blood, skin, liver fat, and metabolism can improve.
It is important to eat healthy amounts hungry but stick to whole, unprocessed food that you can cook easily at home.
A smoothie, followed by a vegetable-based dish, finished with a high-protein meal, shows a great day of healthy eating.
And make sure to stay hydrated and drink lots of water!
Now you are ready for a detox, so after checking with your doctor, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
