Health
Eight Super Foods That Cleanse Your Liver
Medical experts have discovered that the liver is the power house of the body. Apart from the heart that keeps us alive, the liver is responsible for over 500 functions in the body covering food, sex, sleep and excretion.
As the biggest gland in the body, the liver has many vital jobs to keep you alive and well. While we won’t list all the 500 functions the liver performs, it is important to note that the role of the liver is to store vitamins and iron, convert stored sugar to usable sugar when the body’s sugar levels fall below normal, destroy old red blood cells and produce bile to break down and digest fats.
Most importantly, the liver helps to detoxify the blood to get rid of harmful substances. These harmful substances are most commonly due to life-style factors such as alcohol, tobacco, beauty products and processed and fried foods, especially when consumed in large quantities. Other taxing chemicals are harder to avoid, like pollution, prescribed drugs, viruses and natural by-products of metabolism. The liver requires large amounts of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) to be able to perform its processes.
In the past decade the word ‘detox’ has become synonymous with the cayenne pepper, lemon and maple syrup concoctions of the juice cleanse. But detoxing the liver doesn’t have to be that extreme. A detox is essentially the process of removing toxins from the body, so the first step is to reduce your consumption of refined sugars, tobacco, alcohol and excessive coffee. Then by incorporating a selection of super-foods to your diet, you can naturally cleanse and protect this hard-working organ. Below are some foods that can help cleanse the liver.
Tea
Tea is widely considered to be beneficial for health, but evidence has shown that it may have benefits for the liver. A study based in Japan found that drinking 5-10 cups of green tea a day was associated with improved blood markers of liver health. This may be down to a compound known to assist liver function named catechin. Green tea is packed full of this plant antioxidant. Just be mindful of green tea extract as it can have a negative effect.
Cruciferous Vegetables
This includes, but is not limited to, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. These vegetables are a major source of glutathione, which triggers the toxin cleansing enzymes of the liver. Eating cruciferous vegetables will increase production of glucosinolate in your system, which helps flush out carcinogens and other toxins.
Turmeric
In addition to its use as a spice and pigment, turmeric has been used in India for medicinal purposes for centuries. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, and it has powerful biological properties. This spice helps the enzymes that flush out toxins and contains antioxidants that repair liver cells. It also assists the liver in detoxing metals, while boosting bile production.
Citrus
While also providing a big hit of vitamin C, citrus fruits stimulate the liver and aid the synthesizing of toxic materials into substances that can be absorbed by water. Grapefruit is particularly beneficial as it contains two primary antioxidants: naringin and naringenin. These may help protect the liver from injury by reducing inflammation and protecting the liver cells.
Beetroot
Beets also contain vitamin C and a healthy dose of fiber which are both natural cleansers for the digestive system. But more impressively, beets assist with increasing oxygen by cleansing the blood, and can break down toxic wastes to help them be excreted quicker. They stimulate bile flow and boost enzymatic activity.
Garlic
Garlic is loaded with sulphur, which activates liver enzymes that help your body flush out toxins. Garlic also holds high amounts of selenium. Selenium is an essential micronutrient that has been shown to help boost the natural antioxidant enzyme levels in our livers. Supplementing with selenium gives our livers even more ammunition in the fight against the damage caused by oxidative stress.
Walnuts
Walnuts are a good source of glutathione, omega-3 fatty acids, and the amino acid arginine, which supports normal liver cleansing actions, especially when detoxifying ammonia.
Olive Oil
Although it is a fat, olive oil is considered a healthy fat. Cold-pressed organic oils such as olive, hemp, and flaxseed offer great support for the liver, providing the body with a liquid base that can suck up harmful toxins in the body. It has also been shown to decrease the levels of fat in the liver.
Health
Taraba Confirms Lassa Fever Outbreak
The authorities in Taraba State Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the State.
Making the confirmation in an interview, State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Gbangsheya Buma disclosed that out of the nine suspected cases that were recorded last Friday, eight turned out positive for the viral haemorrhagic fever.
Buma stated that the state Ministry of Health is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, and the Federal Medical Center, Jalingo, FMC, authorities to contain the spread of the disease.
“It is not a surprising thing, this is the season, and we have made preparations, though the outbreak may be overwhelming.
“I just received support from NCDC; they have sent some people here to provide technical support with the aim of stopping the progress of the disease.
“We are actually on top of it. We have provided support as a state to the FMC to provide free treatment to patients of Lassa fever,” he said.
Acting Head of Clinical Services at FMC Jalingo, Joseph Kuni, provided further insight on the outbreak, revealing that the center currently has ten patients in its isolation ward, with some awaiting test results.
Kuni said, “From January to February, the center had recorded 19 deaths from the isolation center.
“From January to February, we sent 105 samples, and 60 of them came out positive for Lassa Fever while 39 came out negative. The remaining ones are still being awaited.”
He explained that due to a fire outbreak that affected the modular laboratory last year, the center cannot perform tests locally, so they send samples to Bauchi or Abuja for testing.
Additionally, Kuni confirmed that one medical doctor from the hospital was affected but has since been treated and discharged.
Kuni emphasised the need for more assistance considering the alarming number of cases, particularly from the central part of the state.
Warning that Lassa Fever is endemic in Nigeria, Kuni said with sporadic outbreaks occurring primarily during the dry season, and it is transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated food or household items.
Health
Experts Warn On Excess Consumption Of Sweetened Beverages
Drinking two litres or more per week of artificially sweetened beverages — the equivalent of a medium-sized fast-food diet soda a day — raises the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation by 20 percent when compared to people who drank none, a new study found.
Known as A-fib, atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat often described by many people who have it as a “quiver,” “flutter” or “flip-flop” of the heart in the chest.
Drinking a similar number of added-sugar beverages raised the risk of the condition by 10 percent, while drinking about four ounces of pure, unsweetened juices, such as orange or vegetable juice, was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of atrial fibrillation, the study found.
“This is the first study to report an association between no- and low-calorie sweeteners and also sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of atrial fibrillation,” said Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, in a statement. She was not involved in the new study.
While the study could only show an association between sweetened drinks and A-fib, the relationship remained after accounting for any genetic susceptibility to the condition. A 2017 study found people with European ancestry had about a 22 percent risk of inheriting the condition.
This heart condition may affect one in four women after menopause, the study further reveals”We still need more research on these beverages to confirm these findings and to fully understand all the health consequences on heart disease and other health conditions,” Kris-Etherton said.
“In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided,” she added.
Atrial fibrillation is dangerous and on the rise and is the leading cause of stroke in the United States. In addition, strokes connected to A-fib tend to be “more severe than strokes with other underlying causes,” according to the united states centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Atrial fibrillation can also lead to blood clots, heart failure and “can increase the risk for heart attack, for dementia, for kidney disease. All of those things are likely long term risks,” Dr. Gregory Marcus, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and associate chief of cardiology for research at UCSF Health, told The Tide’s in an interview.
Health
Ogun Seals College’s Nursing Department Over Illegal Operations
The Nursing Department of the Harvarde College of Science Business and Management Studies in Abeokuta has been shut.
The department was sealed yesterday for operating without accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The enforcement team comprised officials of enforcement team of the Ogun Ministry of Health and members of the State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC).
Speaking during the enforcement exercise, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, said that the private institution had been offering a degree programme in Nursing Sciences.
He added that this had been going on for about six years without accreditation from the regulatory body.
Oladehinde, represented by the Acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Serifat Aminu, said that such unauthorised programme contributed to quackery in nursing and posed a threat to public health.
According to him, the nursing department of the institution will remain sealed until fully accredited.
He described a degree in Nursing obtained from Harvarde College and similar institutions without NMCN accreditation as worthless, stating that graduates would be unable to obtain a valid license to practice in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
“We have discovered that many institutions, including Harvarde College, offer nursing degrees to unsuspecting students.
“Our mission is to clamp down on such institutions because they end up producing quacks in the nursing profession.
“This is dangerous for society. Unfortunately, most students are unaware that their time is being wasted,” he said.
The permanent secretary advised parents and candidates desiring to pursue nursing or related programmes to conduct due diligence by checking the NMCN website for a list of accredited institutions, saying the regulatory body updated the list yearly.
He warned parents to be cautious of institutions making false claims, assuring that the Ogun government would continue to work diligently against quackery in both the education and practice of the nursing profession in the state.
Responding, a 300-level student, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed shock at the institution’s lack of accreditation, regretting the amount of money her parents had spent on the
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