When you love your liver, it will love you back. Abuse it and it will neglect you. Unfortunately, many of us do not care enough for our livers until problems arise, which can have detrimental health effects. Bad liver health can be attributed to modern lifestyle choices. Irregular mealtimes, lack of sleep and stress can overburden the liver. Over-consumption of fatty foods and alcohol can also overwork the liver as it works harder to break down, store and clear excess toxins.

This may sound morbid, but there are over 100 diseases associated with the liver. They include disorders such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, hepatitis, alcohol related liver disease, haemochromatosis, autoimmune liver disorders, cancer and congenital or inherited diseases.

It’s not hard to keep your liver functioning optimally. All you need to do is take these simple steps into consideration:

• Get ample rest
• Drink six to eight glasses of water daily
• Be physically active
• Avoid alcohol and drugs that might harm the liver
• Have a well-balanced and nutritious diet

Eating right also helps to maintain a healthy liver. Five servings of fruits and vegetables a day can help to promote liver detoxification and rid the body of harmful substances like toxins, alcohol and drugs.

Try incorporating these foods in your diet: cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts, as well as fruits like prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, oranges, grapefruit, apples and pears.

The right supplement can also provide excellent liver support to enhance liver function and protect against liver damage, making it a holistic solution to achieve peak liver health.