9 Clinically Proven Supplements to Support the Liver

What’s a Liver-Friendly Diet?

You don’t have to give up drinking alcohol forever and pursue a diet of tofu and bean sprouts just to support your liver health. Your liver is designed to detoxify nearly anything you throw at it, as long as you don’t give it too much to do. That is why clinical trials of calorie restriction have had some amazing results of diet in treating liver disease.

Cutting Back Your Calories Just 10 Percent is Enough to Make a Difference in Liver Health.

Reducing total calories consumed by just 10 percent is enough to reduce the inflammation in the liver generated by a high-fat diet. Reducing calorie intake by 10 percent also paradoxically reduces the production of the “hunger hormone” leptin, and it stimulates the production of repair proteins in the liver.

Losing fat mass over time, as you continue to manage your intake, will also increase the production of adiponectin. This is a hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels and reduce appetite. Mild calorie reduction may set of a positive spiral of weight control and better liver health, especially if you are also taking liver supplements at the same time.

Protein Restriction is Not Helpful (and may even be harmful) Unless You Have Advanced Liver Disease.

Many well-intentioned commentators who advocate vegan diets try to make the point that too much protein harms the liver, so everyone needs to pursue a vegan diet. There is indeed a point at which too much protein actually does harm a healthy liver.

However, that occurs in adults who eat a kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat or more every day, unless you are in the most advanced stages of liver disease. [1] That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat a vegan diet. It just means that you don’t have go completely vegan because you are afraid of developing liver disease.

Calorie Restriction is Even More Important for Liver Health Than Exercise.

A clinical study conducted at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto in Japan found that keeping calorie counts to the level needed to support ideal weight improved liver health with or without five hours of high-intensity exercise every week. [2] The bottom line from over 100 clinical studies is that if you want to keep your liver healthy, a very important aspect your lifestyle should be not to overeat.

You don’t have to go on a drastic diet. You probably only have to eat about 200 calories less every day. Or look at it this way: To keep your liver healthy, eat the right number of calories for the body you want to have. Do not to punish the body you have now to make it lose weight.

And even when you can’t keep your calories in control, it helps to take balanced liver supplements. This is why we created a proprietary liver supplement with 9 synergistic ingredients called Liver Reboot™.

 

A Perfect Balance of Liver-Healthy Ingredients

There are nine safe, effective, well-known, and clinically tested natural therapies that make a documented difference in liver support. Outside of the United States, some of them are so well regarded that you can get them with a doctor’s prescription and your health insurance will pay for them.

All of these are among the best herbal and natural ingredients for liver health, which is why we put them all into our liver supplements to create the ultimate blend on the market. Liver Reboot is a proprietary supplement blend that you cannot find anywhere else.

Alpha-lipoic Acid is Probably the World’s Best Known Antioxidant Supplement.

One of the most common uses of alpha-lipoic acid is in treating the world’s most common liver problem, hangover. It reduces “colonic hypersensitivity,” the flatulence, diarrhea, and stomach cramps that can come with toxic injury to your liver, such as the injury to your liver from drinking too much alcohol. [3] There is also good clinical evidence that alpha-lipoic acid can help the liver come back from “shocks” that cut off circulation. [4]

Research on Alpha-Lipoic Acid Helping the Liver of Heavy Drinkers

The evidence is not as clear-cut as to whether alpha-lipoic acid can help the liver come back from the effects of chronic heavy drinking, but in a small-scale clinical study conducted about 35 years ago:

• 11 percent of former heavy drinkers who quit using alcohol but did not take alpha-lipoic acid had better liver biopsies after six months.
• 85 percent of former heavy drinkers who quit using alcohol and took alpha-lipoic acid every day had better liver biopsies after six months of supplementation.
• 3 percent of heavy drinkers who did not quit drinking and did not take alpha-lipoic acid had improved liver biopsies after six months.
• 42 percent of heavy drinkers who did not quit drinking and did take alpha-lipoic acid every day had improved liver biopsies after six months on alpha-lipoic acid, despite their heavy drinking.

The dose of alpha-lipoic acid used in this study was 300 mg per day. [5] A common question is “Don’t you want pure R-lipoic acid, not alpha-lipoic acid (which is a mixture of R- and L-lipoic acids)?”

The answer is, not necessarily. Alpha-lipoic acid is just as effective as R-lipoic acid when the target is blood plasma, outside of a cell. So, make sure your liver supplements contain alpha lipoic acid.

Bupleurum, Also Known in Chinese as Chai Hu, is a Favorite of Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine for “Clearing External Wind Heat.”

The evil heat of the summer wind was thought to cause bloodshot eyes, a pounding headache, and dehydration. Does anything about that sound familiar? The ancient masters of Chinese herbal medicine used bupleurum to treat “liver depression.”The liver was thought to be the organ that housed emotions, keeping them in order until they were appropriately expressed.

A “depressed” liver was unable to contain emotions, causing anger to spill over into the rest of the body—especially the mouth (speaking anger) and eyes (seeing anger). What modern science knows is that bupleurum provides even stronger antioxidants than those in milk thistle.

It contains compounds that stimulate autophagy, a process through which liver cells can remove structures damaged by alcohol or other toxins. It’s a kind of detoxifier that works from the inside out rather than from the outside in. Clinical studies show that in people who abuse alcohol, bupleurum helps prevent the fibrosis of the liver that leads to the cirrhosis of the liver. [6]

Bupleurum is actually even more useful for maintaining the general health of your liver than it is for helping you recover from a hangover. If you keep your liver healthy, however, you will bounce back faster those (we hope) rare times you drink too much. To do so, you should regularly take liver supplements.

Globe Artichoke Extract has a Long History as a Hangover Cure.

The way artichoke extract fights hangover is well understood.

It prevents increases in two enzymes that measure tissue destruction in the liver, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). It also increases levels of the liver-protective antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase. Balanced liver supplements should contain globe artichoke because of this.

 

 

Compounds in artichoke leaf extract stimulate DNA repair processes that allow the liver to recover from exposure to toxic chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride. Globe artichoke extract also soothes burning stomach pain that alcohol can sometimes cause. Because the benefits of artichoke extract in treating hangover are so well known, no clinical trials have been conducted to confirm the usefulness of this herb in treating hangover.

However, other benefits of artichoke extract have been confirmed in clinical trials. Over the last 59 years sixty-nine human studies have shown to support the idea that regular consumption of artichokes increases protective HDL cholesterol. [7]

When the polyphenols in globe artichoke extract are processed by beneficial Lactobacillus paracasei bacteria in the colon, the bacteria release a compound that prevents inflammation of nerve endings. You get better results from artichoke extract, and greater relief from the headache and fatigue of hangover if you also regularly use probiotics that include L. paracasei. [8]

Ginger is Part of a Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Folk Remedy for Relieving Stomach Upset After Drinking too Much.

It is traditionally combined with tangerine pith and brown sugar to make kami-shoyo-san. This formula is so well respected in Japan that your doctor can write you a prescription for it and your insurance will pay for it. In addition to having been used in Japanese herbal medicine for hundreds of years safely and effectively, modern clinical experience supports its application used in conventional medicine in both China and Japan.

Chinese doctors use the formula for preventing fibrosis of the liver. Japanese doctors use it for extending life in liver cancer patients because the healing strength has been seen in 30,992 patients . [9] It’s also used to treat psychological symptoms of menopause. [10] You don’t really need the brown sugar or the tangerine peel to make the formula work.

They’re included in the traditional remedy because ginger tea can be hard to drink on its own. In Liver Reboot you get the ginger that protects your liver and makes you feel better without the added calories of the brown sugar. [11] Make sure to choose liver supplements without any added sugar.

Grapeseed Extract Encourages the Growth of Healthy, Probiotic Bacteria but Discourages the Growth of Disease-Causing Microorganisms.

Some of the probiotic bacteria that are protected by grapeseed extract release chemicals that prevent the creation of damaged, tangled proteins in the brain. [12] Grape seed extract specifically protects the liver from toxic chemicals that tend to oxidize its tissues, depleting the free radicals it needs to avoid fibrosis.

 

Human clinical trials are underway to determine whether grape seed extract will protect the liver from metabolic syndrome, the well-known condition that causes prediabetes. In addition the trials are also researching whether it will protect the liver from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and weight gain. [13]

Kutki Root, Also Known by its Botanical Name Picrorhiza Kurroa, is a Bitter Tonic that Comes to us from Ayurvedic Medicine.

Kutki root is a low-growing herb that is harvested in sandy soils at heights of 3000 to 5000 meters (about 10,000 to 16,000 feet) in the Himalayas. It is important to choose brands that are made with ethically sourced herbs because it has been harvested almost to extinction. Ayurvedic medicine uses kutki to pacify pitta, the energy that results in sharp pains, sour tastes, lightheadedness, and sweat.

For thousands of years, this property has made kutki root useful in hangover cures. It helps to reverse the symptoms of advanced hepatic steatosis, fatty liver disease. This Himalayan herb helps prevent liver dysfunction as you are getting over a hangover because it helps your circulatory system return to normal. [14] Kutki can also be helpful in viral hepatitis.

A small-scale clinical trial found that it lowers ALT, AST, and bilirubin in people who have hepatitis B. [15] As a result, including this ingredient in liver supplements may have other beneficial side effects.

Milk Thistle is Natural Medicine’s Best Known and Most Broadly Effective Tool for Liver Support.

The most effective form of milk thistle is an extract of the antioxidant constituents of the seed called silymarin.

Silymarin contains seven especially stable flavonoglignans including silibinin, isosilibinin, silychristin, isosilychristin and silydianin. In addition it contains another a flavonoid called taxifolin, which is a biologically active compound that is the principal active ingredient in dandelion extract.

Together, these compounds “turn off” inflammatory signals. In women, they help the liver regulate estrogen. In both sexes, they help the liver respond to insulin so you have fewer highs and lows in your blood sugar levels.

They “downregulate” a substance known as macrophage activation factor. As a result, you have less bulk around your waist or (in women) thighs and hips due to the accumulation of fluid around white blood cells trapped in fat.

 

And for people looking for an effective hangover treatment, the silymarin component silibinin is especially helpful in reducing inflammation. [16] For example, inflammation that causes headaches, sensitivity to light, and a burning stomach after drinking too much can be significantly reduced by taking an organic milk thistle supplement.

No matter what the cause of liver injury, milk thistle extract reduces it.

The hospital laboratory indicators ALT and AST have measured and documented the reduction. [17] But don’t just take milk thistle when you drink. Take liver supplements that have milk thistle in them such as Liver Reboot every day for continuous support of your liver health. While milk thistle alone is great, there are a handful of other ingredients that combine to create a more powerful effect in your body.

N-acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is Useful is Treating the Hepatotoxic Effects of Another Commonly Consumed Class of Beverages: Soft Drinks Sweetened with Aspartame (Nutrasweet).

Extremely high levels of consumption of aspartame can eat visible holes in the liver. Anyone who drinks more than 2 liters of soft drinks per day needs NAC because this is the quantity that causes liver damage. But even if you aren’t addicted to any soft drinks, NAC helps with overall liver health and is an important ingredient to look for when choosing their liver supplements.

Schisandra Berry is Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Wei Zi or Fruit of Five Flavors.

The herb is called the fruit of five flavors because as you bite into schisandra berries they ooze a flavor combination of sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and spicy. In a hangover remedy, they are used to help you get sleep because they contain compounds that reduce the time it takes you to fall asleep.

They also help you enjoy a deeper and longer sleep. In addition, they prevent restless legs syndrome and other muscle movements during the night, or at least that’s what centuries of successful use tell us. Furthermore schisandra supports the health of the heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys as well as the liver.

 

It also works synergistically with acupuncture. Volunteer patients in a Chinese clinical study were found to have 203 to 315 percent more of the pharmacologically active chemicals in schisandra after acupuncture treatment.[18]

In large amounts, fructose is more or less a useless macronutrient because it goes straight to your liver to be used for fuel or to make fat. In small amounts when you have a hangover, however, fructose gives your liver the ready energy it needs to continue detoxifying alcohol and all of its byproducts.[19]

If you regularly drink too much, at least give your liver a break by not eating too much. Good diet habits, as discussed earlier in this article, can partially compensate for bad drinking habit.

Summary

Don’t just use natural liver support when you have a hangover.

Use liver supplements and herbs every day to support optimal liver health. This is key in order to maximize your liver’s ability to clear away toxins so you enjoy optimal energy, hormonal balance, and resilient good health.

The liver is one of the most important organs in the body, but many people overlook their liver health.

As a result, the liver is not able to remove toxins in the body efficiently, and these toxins build up over time. Do not be one of these people. If you want optimal health, then taking care of your liver is a necessary step towards that goal. Give your liver what it needs to function at its best, and the rest of your body will thank you.