To detoxify, first improve the liver’s detoxification function! Must-Eat Cruciferous Vegetable Superfoods

Modern people live a fast-paced life and eat out frequently. Their stomachs are unknowingly fed with many artificial additives and toxins. Long-term accumulation of these toxins will make people fat and harm their health. Therefore, detoxification is popular nowadays. The liver is the largest detoxification organ in the human body, responsible for metabolizing and eliminating toxins from the body. Therefore, if you want to improve your detoxification efficiency, you must first keep your liver functioning healthily. Nutritionists remind us that eating more cruciferous vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C can help improve the liver's detoxification ability and make the body's detoxification more efficient.

Wu Yingrong, executive director of the Taiwan Nutrition Foundation and a doctor of nutrition, pointed out that eating more cruciferous vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C can help the liver detoxify more effectively. Cruciferous vegetables include cauliflower, sprouts, mustard greens, broccoli, etc. These vegetables are rich in sulfides, which can promote the liver to produce detoxification enzymes and help eliminate toxins in the body. In addition, fruits rich in vitamin C such as oranges, grapefruits, kiwis, etc. can also help the liver detoxify more effectively.

Artificial additives and toxins, if accumulated over a long period of time, will make people fat and endanger their health. Detoxification must first be done by the liver. Eating more cruciferous vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C can enhance the liver's detoxification ability and make the body's detoxification more efficient.

Improve liver detoxification function, eat cruciferous vegetables + fruits

Wu Yingrong said that the body's detoxification and detoxification organs are different. The detoxification organs include the intestines, kidneys, and urinary tract system, which excrete toxins from the body in the form of feces and urine respectively; and "detoxification" is mainly through the biochemical action of the liver, which converts toxins and harmful substances that were originally insoluble in water into water-soluble components, which help to excrete them in the form of urination and defecation. This shows that if the liver's detoxification function is good, detoxification can be smoother.

How to improve the liver's detoxification function? Dr. Wu Yingrong said that in addition to drinking less alcohol, not taking medicine indiscriminately, and eating less fried foods and sweets, it is recommended to eat more cruciferous vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, etc., the brighter and richer the color, the better. Green broccoli is better than white broccoli in detoxification effect. Purple broccoli is an artificially improved variety. Although it is rich in anthocyanins, it is still recommended to give priority to the original color of food in the diet. Fruits with high vitamin C content include kiwi, guava, etc.

In principle, cruciferous vegetables and vitamin C fruits should be consumed at all three meals a day. However, modern people lead busy lives and eat out frequently, making it difficult to consume fruits and vegetables at the same time. Therefore, it is recommended that you take some easy-to-carry fruits with you out in the morning and eat them during your free time, and eat plenty of vegetables in the evening. This will not only enhance the liver's detoxification ability, but is also helpful for weight loss.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, etc., the brighter and richer the color, the better. Green broccoli is more effective in detoxifying than white broccoli.

Minority groups should be cautious when eating cruciferous vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables have many health benefits, including anti-inflammatory, detoxifying and anti-cancer, and have always been regarded as super nutritious ingredients. However, Hou Wenyi, director of the Nutrition Department of St. Martin's Hospital, reminds that people with certain physical conditions and those who are taking special medications should avoid eating cruciferous vegetables to avoid harming their body or reducing the efficacy of the medications.

Nutritionist Hou Wenyi said that studies have found that cruciferous plants contain an antioxidant-like substance called "glucosinolates". Under four specific circumstances, glucosinolates will hydrolyze to form "isothiocyanates". Excessive isothiocyanate levels in the body can easily lead to thyroid enlargement, and the enlargement of patients with thyroid enlargement will become more serious.

These four situations include:

(1) Patients who already have symptoms of thyroid enlargement.

(2) Heavy smoking

(3) Long-term consumption of low-iodine salt or lack of iodized salt.

(4) Eating a large amount of cruciferous foods rich in thiocyanate in a short period of time, such as eating 1 kg of cruciferous vegetables per day.

In addition, cruciferous plants may interact with some drugs, offsetting their effectiveness and leading to unexpected adverse consequences. Nutritionist Hou Wenyi said that common medications that cannot be taken with cruciferous vegetables include the bronchodilator theophylline, the anticoagulant warfarin and the antidepressant TCAs.