Not only for heart and blood vessel health, garlic is also beneficial for the liver. What are these benefits? The liver is an organ that functions to fight infections, remove toxins, and so on. Not only that, the liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself.
Therefore, it is very important for you to keep your liver healthy. If liver function has problems, this can trigger liver disease and metabolic disorders.
To help protect the liver, one way is to pay attention to daily food intake.
There are many foods that a person can consume to help protect the liver, one of which is garlic. Yes, you can include this plant in your daily menu to maintain liver health.
The following are the various benefits of garlic for the liver:
1. Get rid of toxins
Garlic is known to contain allicin, selenium, and arginine which are useful for activating enzymes that can remove toxins from the body.
Allicin is an antioxidant that can ward off free radicals that damage the body, including the liver.
In addition, allicin has antibacterial and antifungal properties. In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, allicin in garlic can cause the death of cancer cells in the liver.
2. Antioxidant properties
The powerful antioxidant properties of garlic have the most significant benefits for liver health.
These antioxidants can prevent liver damage due to natural free radicals produced by the body, help balance fat, and ward off toxins from outside the body such as chemicals.
3. Lowers Cholesterol Levels
Based on a study from the Journal of Nutrition, using garlic extract every day can reduce levels of triglycerides or bad fats that form in the liver.
In this way, the liver can avoid fatty liver disease.
4. Fights inflammation (Anti-Inflammatory)
One of the benefits of garlic for the liver is that it can fight inflammation.
Vitamin B6 can fight inflammation in the liver. Vitamin C is also able to prevent disorders of liver cells.
5. Reduces the risk of fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
A small 2016 study showed that supplementing the diet with garlic extract powder capsules may benefit people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
It is known that it can reduce body weight and body fat in sufferers, without losing lean body mass.
Weight loss is beneficial for many people, as being overweight or obese is a contributing factor to NAFLD.
6. Repairs Liver Damage
Another benefit of black garlic for the liver is that it can improve liver function in cases of liver damage due to chronic alcohol, possibly through its antioxidant activity.
In other studies, it was also found that black garlic can reduce levels of ALT and AST, two chemicals in the blood that indicate liver damage.
The liver plays an important role in the body. It’s a good idea for you to start paying attention to your daily food intake so that your liver health is maintained.
Then, you also need to avoid foods and drinks that might actually harm your liver.
Keep your heart healthy with a healthy lifestyle. One way you can do this is by adding garlic to every dish.
There are so many benefits of garlic for the liver, from removing toxins to improving liver problems and diseases.
