Top 7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Is your liver under attack?

What do you think about the words “detox” and “cleanse”?

I know it makes some people roll their eyes. “You don’t need to detox,” they say, “your liver does it for you.”

Actually, I always nod emphatically and agree!

The purpose of a cleanse is to support the liver, the organ that purifies our body. And sure, a lot of detoxing happens without doing a thing.

However, your lifestyle choices can directly impact how well your liver does its job.

In general, fatty foods, alcohol, dehydration, illness, and stress drag your liver down with you.

Today, I’m going to show you how to get back on the right path. The seven smoothie recipes I have to share are formulated with your liver in mind.

You are probably wondering… how?

But before we start the cleanse, let’s learn more about what the liver does.

Afterward, we’ll look at some key ways we regularly hurt one of our most precious organs.

The Liver: What It Does and Why It Matters

First of all, has anyone ever told you how incredible your liver is?

The fact is, every liver is very special. That’s because it’s the only organ in the body that can not only heal but regrow itself.

Unfortunately, the liver can sustain damage and become so scarred that it can no longer regenerate healthy cells.

Top 7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

This is what we want to prevent!

Invariably, without a liver, you cannot have a life. For example, here are just a few of the hundreds of vital functions your liver is responsible for:

  • Vitamin storage. That’s right, your liver saves vitamins to release when you really need them!
  • Blood filtration. First and foremost, the liver is a filter. It’s exposed to everything you ingest. Among its primary functions, the liver filters out excess hormones and harmful substances like alcohol and drugs.
  • Produces bile. Bile aids in digestion and enables the breakdown of fats. This is why a sluggish liver can lead to weight gain, particularly around the midsection.
  • Protein production. The liver creates proteins responsible for distributing fat and enriching blood plasma.
  • Moderates blood sugar. When food triggers the production of insulin, the liver responds by absorbing the extra glucose.

Foods and Beverages That Harm the Liver

Top 7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

These types of junk food harm your liver.

When you do the smoothie cleanse, you’re going to have to avoid certain other foods and drinks.

I recommend clearing these out of your life for good. For example, the following substances are pretty tough on your liver:

  • High fructose corn syrup. That means no soda, candy, or sugary drinks. HFCS lurks in a lot of packaged products, so read the labels! It can be found in brands of yogurt, cereal, and salad dressing.
  • Alcohol. Liver disease can happen to nondrinkers, but alcohol is still the worst possible thing you can put in your body. In fact, the liver can only metabolize one ounce of alcohol each hour – that’s why you get tipsy.
  • Trans fats. Thankfully, trans fats are disappearing from foods in response to consumer concerns. But we’re not out of the woods yet. Margarine, coffee creamer, ice cream, french fries, and baked goods usually contain trans fats.
  • Sodium. Sodium stresses out the liver, which is why those with liver disease should adhere to a low-sodium diet. Canned soup, broths, chips, seasoning blends, and heat-and-eat meals simply have too much sodium.

Special note: Of course, it’s well known that some medications increase the amount of liver enzymes in blood test results.

However, you should never discontinue any prescriptions without first speaking to your doctor. They’ll monitor your condition, and in the meantime, these smoothies can help.

 

Top 7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Ready, set, go.

It’s time to gather your produce, fire up your blender, and test drive my seven favorite liver supporting smoothies.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

For fast results, drink one in the morning and one in the afternoon for seven days.

1. The “Bitter Together” Detox Smoothie.

As I’ve told you before, your liver loves bitter stuff. The vitamins and nutrients found in bitter fruits, rhizomes, herbs, and vegetables help stimulate that fat-blasting bile production.

To make this smoothie, you will need:

  • One cup of bitter greens, like arugula or dandelion
  • The juice of half an organic lemon
  • Half of one grapefruit (any kind)
  • One orange, no peel
  • Distilled water (around a cup and a half)

Pre-process the greens and water together first. This way, you’ll have a head start on breaking down the tough, fibrous stuff before adding our citrus. Next, add in the lemon juice and citrus fruits, any remaining water, and blend.

Although lemon alone tastes bitter, it actually works with the sweetness of the orange to reduce the bitter taste. This is due to their acidity.

Also, you can adjust the amount of water depending on how thick you like your smoothies.

2. The Super Berry Smoothie.

I have a secret that will make this smoothie just a little more effective for liver support. Use your strawberries just before they are ripe.

You see, when strawberries are slightly under-ripe (firm to the touch), they’re higher in ellagitannins. Ellagitannins encourage healthy cell turnover which is how the liver renews itself.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

For this smoothie, you’ll need:

  • 1/2 a cup of fresh sliced strawberries
  • Half a cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • Half a cup of raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • One and a half cups of coconut water

Simply add all ingredients at once and blend until smooth. Using a mixture of fresh and frozen berries means that your smoothie will be frosty without being too thick.

Coconut water is key here because it’s another great source of antioxidants. In fact, studies indicate that it can reduce liver damage in animals.

Just make sure that your coconut water doesn’t have a lot of additives and extra sugars. Preferably, you should track down some fresh young coconut water.

3. The Healthy Apple Pie Smoothie.

Swap out the trans fats in your favorite pastries for this tasty treat. A favorite fruit for many of us, apples are touted as a major food to eat for a healthy liver. Their secret is malic acid, which is a common ingredient in many so-called “liver flush” products.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Choose fresh organic apples when possible for you smoothie.

However, unlike other ingredients found in sketchy supplements, the benefits of malic acid are legit. For one, it’s said to dissolve gallstones and increase the all-important production of bile.

For this smoothie, you’ll need:

  • Two apples (your favorite kind, sliced and cored)
  • One frozen banana
  • A knob of fresh ginger
  • Half a teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon
  • A cup and a half of almond or coconut milk

First, blend the apples and some of the milk together to break down the tough-yet-nutritious skins. Next, add in the frozen banana, ginger, cinnamon, and the rest of the plant milk. Finally, blend until smooth.

The frozen banana makes this drink creamier and sweeter, making it a good way to fight cravings.

In addition to the taste, the benefits of ginger are huge.

Note that Ceylon cinnamon is necessary here because other popular forms, such as cassia, can be toxic to the liver.

4. The Red Velvet Beetroot Smoothie.

Personally, nothing is more satisfying than a luscious red smoothie that gives me lots of extra energy. Additionally, it just so happens that beets encourage bile production and contain a ton of nutrients.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Hopefully, you’ve become accustomed to vegetable smoothies. But if not, no worries! We’re going to slip in a few other ingredients that completely mask the taste of greens and roots.

To make this smoothie, round up:

  • Half a cup of diced beets (any way you like them – peeled, unpeeled, raw, cooked)
  • A cup and a half of baby spinach
  • One cup of frozen red berries, like raspberries or strawberries
  • Three pitted Medjool dates
  • One tablespoon of organic dark cocoa powder
  • A splash of vanilla extract
  • A cup and a half of unsweetened plant milk (almond or coconut preferable)

To begin, blend the spinach and beets with half of the plant milk to get a smoother texture. Then incorporate the rest of your ingredients and enjoy the fresh, chocolaty flavor.

Aside from acting as a liver cleanse, this smoothie is the best possible healthy dessert you can have.

I want to note that I know a lot of smoothie-lovers are into raw cacao powder. This superfood does appear to be a tasty alternative to chocolate or cocoa.

However, continuous use of cacao has been linked to liver toxicity.

If you don’t want to use cocoa, you can swap it out for carob powder.

5. Warm and Spicy Soup Smoothie.

That’s right, this smoothie doubles as a soup. If your blender doesn’t blend hot items, no problem.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

You’ll blend the ingredients at room temperature, and you can heat it up a little more if you’d like. Remember, don’t use too much heat if you do; heat destroys some phytonutrients. This “smoothie” is a perfect light meal replacement during a cleanse.

You will need:

  • Two large carrots
  • One tomato
  • One clove of garlic
  • The juice of half a lemon
  • One cup of spinach
  • A handful of fresh parsley
  • Two celery stalks
  • A pinch or two of ground cayenne pepper
  • Two and a half cups of distilled water

As always, blend your toughest veggies with some of the liquid first. Dice the carrots and celery and blend them with the spinach and parsley. Next, add the tomato, garlic, lemon juice, pepper, and any leftover water.

Cayenne pepper is an essential detox ingredient that, like many other foods featured here, helps the liver get moving.

Garlic and parsley increase enzymatic activity and purify the blood. Meanwhile, carrots offer beneficial carotenoids and fiber that lightens the liver’s workload.

6. The Super Purple Liver Lover Smoothie.

Look, I know what some of you are going to think. There is cabbage in this smoothie.

But I dare you to try it; this is another recipe where the flavor is dominated by fruits.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Purple cabbage is one woefully overlooked vegetable.

Western populations don’t eat nearly as much of it as they used to, although it’s a major disease preventer. In fact, it can work with the liver to lower cholesterol a common attribute of many diseases.

Gather up:

  • ¾ cup of red or purple cabbage, shredded
  • One frozen sliced banana
  • Half of a cup of blueberries
  • A few large leaves of kale
  • One cup of unsweetened coconut water or milk

To start…

Chop the kale and blend with the cabbage and half of the milk. Add in the banana, blueberries, and the remainder of the milk.

While they’re among the smallest berries commonly eaten, blueberries pack a major antioxidant punch. It’s thought that their anti-inflammatory properties are effective against liver disease.

7. The Supreme Cleanse Smoothie.

Finally, we have the recipe that’s formulated to be most effective in maintaining liver health.

It features some of the very best foods for the liver, many of which are required for the other recipes.

Hence, it’s pretty cost effective.

Many root vegetables and greens last quite a while in your crisper. Depending on the cost of produce in your area, each serving can end up costing you around one dollar.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Hey, that sounds a lot better than dropping a ton of cash on a detox program.

Not to mention, those programs often include the purchase of pills which you have no idea how you’ll react to.

I’d recommend having this smoothie during three days of your week-long cleanse. And actually, this recipe makes enough for both daily smoothies.

For this smoothie, you’ll need:

  • One cup shredded purple cabbage
  • One cup of arugula, beet greens, or dandelion greens
  • Two to three diced beets
  • One cup spinach or kale
  • Two carrots
  • One apple, cored and sliced
  • A handful of strawberries
  • The juice of one lemon
  • Clean, cold water (amount may vary; I generally use two to three cups for entire recipe)

First, blend your tough veggies in stages, especially if you don’t have a super high-powered blender like the Vitamix.

Second, add in the softer greens, berries, and lemon juice, along with the rest of the water.

This smoothie may require a longer blending time due to the volume and amount of fiber in the ingredients. Also, you may opt to add a handful of ice cubes to make it colder.

Final Word About The 7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

On one hand, we’re amazingly lucky that the liver is so resilient and can heal on its own.

While on the other, it’s extremely important to care for our livers. Inarguably, once the damage progresses beyond a certain point, there’s no going back.

7 Best Smoothie Cleanse Recipes for Your Liver

Realistic illustration of cirrhosis of human liver .

Signs of a congested or poorly functioning liver include:

  • Yellowing of the skin
  • Acid reflux
  • Dark urine
  • Lack of appetite
  • Fatigue
  • Bloating and water retention
  • Rashes

It’s best to see your doctor for a blood test to check up on your liver.

In the meantime, everyone, not just those with known liver problems, can benefit greatly from a periodic smoothie cleanse.

This way, you can help your liver do what it does best!

After all, the liver lives to detoxify your body and produce crucial proteins and enzymes essential to your health.

In closing, I’m curious to hear what you think about my recipes. Do you put vegetables in your smoothies, and if so, what’s your favorite combination?

Are you going to do a seven-day smoothie cleanse for your liver?

See also: Why Lemon Water Detox?What is the Keto Diet and What Makes It a Lifestyle?The Benefits of KombuchaEasy Ways to Improve Your Gut Health

Save