Healthy Liver Eating Plan

A healthy liver eating plan is essential in fighting liver disease, boosting your immune system, and helping reduce inflammation. A proactive plan begins long before you get to the grocery store or eat out.

Learn these simple tips to make your healthy liver eating plan.

Making a healthy liver eating plan

• Plan by making a healthy eating menu for the week, including healthy snacks.
• Make a grocery list from the list of what you need to prepare healthy meals and snacks. This helps avoid impulse buying of foods that are unhealthy for your liver.

Healthy liver food shopping

• Shop from your list.
• Choose a variety of colorful foods and recipes from each food group.
• Choose fresh vegetables and fruit, if possible. Otherwise, choose frozen varieties. A good rule of thumb, fresh or frozen is best for your liver.
• Avoid canned vegetables, fruits, soups, and boxed meals. These items include high sodium, high in sugar, preservatives, and additives that are harmful to your liver.
• Choose whole grains that are high in fiber and low in sugar (bread, brown rice, quinoa, steel-cut oats, cereals, whole grain pasta, etc.)
• Choose lean meat low in fat. Eat less red meat. Red meat is harder to digest and harder for the liver to process nutrients.
• Avoid eating pork (bacon, sausage, ham, chops) due to these are higher in sodium and contribute to retaining fluid.
• Choose meals with poultry and fish without skin for most of the week.
• Include some non-meat dishes in your week, like vegetable stir-fry, salads with quinoa or other protein-rich grains, baked eggplant parmesan, zoodles with marinara sauce, etc.
• Choose to eat fish twice a week. Choose Omega-3 fatty acid fish like salmon, trout, and herring that help fight inflammation.
• Choose Fat-Free dairy or 1% low fat, or almond milk (calcium-rich, no sugar, and low calorie).
• Choose healthy oils in preparing meals (olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil). Choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats/oils.
• Choose spices, dried or fresh herbs, and non-salt spices to add flavor.
• Buy fresh lemon or another citrus to flavor foods and add to your drinking water.
• Drink at least 64 ounces of pure water daily to keep you hydrated, help flush toxins out of your body and help with cell function.

Foods you should avoid

• Processed foods (frozen dinners, boxed dinners, canned items, or fast food).
• Fried foods when out to eat.
• Foods with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• Foods that are high in sodium.
• Foods and beverages that are high in sugar.
• Alcohol of all types.
• Do not eat raw or undercooked meats or shellfish like clams or oysters. These can contain bacteria that are harmful to your liver.