Almost everyone drinks a glass of alcohol at the weekend or over drinks. You may know that alcohol has many effects on your body, but your liver has a particularly hard time when alcohol is consumed.

The functions of the liver

The liver has several types of functions and the important ones are:

1. Production of energy
2. Production of bile
3. Ensuring and stable blood sugar levels
4. Production of Cholesterol
5. Storage of a number of important vitamins and minerals: A, B vitamins, D, K and iron.

Alcohol is actually toxic to our body and must be filtered by our liver. The breakdown of alcohol produces substances that are harmful to the liver. About 90% of total alcohol consumption is processed by the liver. When alcohol is consumed frequently and heavily, this puts the liver at risk of liver damage. With prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption, you may experience fatty liver disease. (This is an inflammation of the liver)

What happens when you stop drinking alcohol

When you stop drinking alcohol, you notice an immediate difference. This is because your body can recover, becomes fitter, clearer and happier. This difference can often be felt after just a few days. The benefits of quitting alcohol include:

• You sleep better: alcohol disrupts your sleep, you often fall asleep faster but you sleep more restlessly and less deeply.
• You feel fitter and sharper
• You improve your resistance: when you drink alcohol, your resistance is a lot lower and you can get sick faster as a result.
• Your skin starts to glow: alcohol dries out your body and you can see this in your skin. It becomes duller.
• You (can) lose weight: Did you know that drinking alcohol makes you produce much more hunger hormone? That explains why after a night out you especially crave a fatty snack. Alcohol contains calories; you may not think about this right away, but these are "empty calories.
• You are making your liver healthier!

Tips on quitting drinking alcohol

When you want to stop drinking alcohol, it is important to properly support your liver in doing so. You can do this with the following tips:

1. Your liver loves foods with a bitter taste.

Examples include: chicory, artichoke, endive, Brussels sprouts, onion, radish, garlic, arugula, thyme, nettle and ginger. Tip: Try to incorporate some of these foods at least weekly.

2. Turmeric also known as curcumin, this is the active ingredient in turmeric and ensures better digestion in your gastrointestinal system and supports the liver in its detoxification phase. It also ensures proper functioning of the gallbladder. Tip: use turmeric spices more often through your dishes or make a delicious turmeric milk(recipe)
3. Choose organic food as much as possible. Our food in the supermarket is highly sprayed. These toxins have to pass the liver again to be rendered harmless.
4. Drink plenty of water. Your liver eliminates waste products and toxins, among other things, by making them water-soluble so that the kidneys can drain them. In this way, you urinate out the waste products again.
5. Add more green vegetables to your menu. Green vegetables contain a lot of chorophyll (leafy greens) which in turn stimulates detoxification. But drinking a nettle tea is also fine for detoxification.