Liver supplements are intended to clean the liver of excess toxins and improve overall health. They are also formulated to help repair liver damage, optimize liver functioning and potentially improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments.
Below you’ll find the top liver supplements ranked and reviewed by our expert health panel.
1. Nature’s Craft
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Nature’s Craft is among the best of the best, and includes powerful, clinically-backed ingredients that support healthy liver functioning.
What we like: Nature’s Craft contains dandelion root that’s used as a digestive tonic along side artichoke to stimulate blood flow from the liver to help reduce your hangovers. It also induces milk thistle to stimulate new liver cells, lower cholesterol and protect your skin against aging.
Flaws: This supplement only has 30 mg of zinc which is a little low. Regardless, it’s still our #1 pick of 2020.
2. Arazo Nutrition Liver Cleanse
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Arazo Nutrition supports a healthy detox and powerful liver. Among other traits, it also helps to improve your weight, energy, vitality, and gut health.
What we like: Arazo Nutrition’s liver cleanse contains milk thistle and 21 vital herbs and other natural ingredients, including: Alfalfa, celery seed, burdock root, yellow dock, grape seed extract, turmeric, red raspberry, berberine, and ginger.
Flaws: It’s not high in vitamins.
3. 1MD LiverMD
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1MD provides a powerful liver optimization supplement that will eliminate free radicals and protect your liver. After taking it, you shouldn’t be surprised to feel like you have more energy, a stronger metabolism, and better overall health.
What we like: LiverMD includes six clinically-reviewed ingredients for maximum potency. This formula stands out because it includes Siliphos silybin, a milk thistle extract that’s 10x more bioavailable than other milk thistle extracts.
Flaws: It only contains 80 mg of siliphos which may be low for some.
4. Hepagard
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This supplement is made to reduce bloating and inflammation caused by your liver without any side effects. It’s non-GMO, gluten-free and vegetarian friendly.
What we like: Research done on this liver supplement which includes milk thistle, n-acetylcysteine, dandelion root, artichoke leaf, and choline bitartrate outperform other ingredients for optimal liver protection. It’s one of the only supplements on our list to have this sort of data backing it.
Flaws: This supplement has fewer herbs than most others.
5. NOW Foods Liver Refresh
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If you want to promote optimal liver health and healthy detoxification, this is the supplement to get. A unique herbal-enzyme is mixed in with milk thistle for a balanced botanical formula.
What we like: N-Acetyl cysteine and methionine are included to help produce glutamine, which aids your body’s normal elimination pathways.
Flaws: You won’t find any dandelion extract is in this supplement.
6. LiveWell Labs Nutrition
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This liver supplement provides you with daily support for optimal liver function. Potent antioxidants are in this supplement to decrease free radical damage.
What we like: It has selenium, which is an antioxidant found in food, to repair liver damage and prevent oxidative stress. It also includes siliphos to help fight off toxins in your body.
Flaws: It only has 80 mg of siliphos.
7. Martin’s Nutrition
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With 22 essential liver herbs, including milk thistle extract, dandelion, beetroot, artichoke extract, chanca piedra, chicory root, yarrow, jujube seed, celery seed, alfalfa, burdock root, grape seed extract, red raspberry, and ginger, Martin’s liver detox formula is a powerful liver support agent.
What we like: Because of its robust formula, you’ll reduce your bloating and speed up your metabolism for a boost in energy and better digestion. It’s also rejuvenating and supports digestive enzyme production.
Flaws: It doesn’t have any protein.
8. 1 Body Store Liver Support
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This supplement helps you maintain a healthy weight by decreasing bloating and excessive weight gain that’s usually linked to liver damage from drinking and smoking.
What we like: This formula is powerful since it includes milk thistle and 17 other natural ingredients. With 1Body Liver Support, you’ll have more energy and vitality to power through your day since your liver stores glycogen, which is converted into glucose for energy.
Flaws: There’s no beetroot in this supplement.
9. CulTao
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If you’re lethargic and want to get rid of excess body fat, this is the liver support supplement for you. This product features organic selenium that’s imperative for your glutathione peroxidase, your body’s natural defense system, to function.
What we like: You’ll get the mental and physical energy your body needs for clarity to increase your work performance and productivity.
Flaws: Other liver supplements have more potent herbs for your liver than this supplement does.
10. Nature’s Nutrition Store
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Nature’s Nutrition Liver Cleanse contains 22 of the utmost plant-based ingredients are formulated in this liver supplement for optimum liver health.
What we like: Nature’s Nutrition Liver Cleanse contains antioxidant-rich plants including milk thistle, beetroot, and artichoke are in this supplement.
Flaws: Unfortunately, there’s no siliphos in this supplement.
Who Needs Liver Supplements?
Your liver is responsible for removing toxins from your body by filtering your blood coming through your digestive tract. Alcohol, fat, sugar, and other toxins damage your liver, which affects the function and health of your other organs and body as a whole.
Liver supplements help your liver function and health, protect liver cells from damage, stimulate the growth of new liver cells, detoxify your liver, and improve the blood flow in your liver.
Anyone looking to repair their liver damage and optimize their liver function should take a liver supplement. Since liver supplements contain potent ingredients, such as milk thistle, artichoke extract, and dandelion extract, it can provide your body with a variety of benefits. For this reason, people who have underlying health issues that affect your brain, bones, or heart, can also benefit from taking a liver supplement.
How We Ranked
When ranking the best liver support supplements, we first looked at the ingredients. Specifically, we looked for milk thistle which supports liver health, promotes better skin, and reduces cholesterol. Our top pick, Nature’s Craft, contains 200 mg of this potent ingredient – among the highest on our list. Arazo Nutrition was also amongst our top-ranked supplements for its 200 mg of milk thistle, alongside 21 critical herbal natural ingredients, including alfalfa, celery seed, burdock root, yellow dock, grape seed extract, turmeric, red raspberry, berberine, and ginger.
Another thing we looked for in a quality liver supplement was its ability to reduce inflammation. Reducing inflammation in your liver is critical for it to remove toxins and function adequately. Hepagard made our list, because it reduced the bloating and inflammation of your liver.
Supplements that included artichoke extract and dandelion were also highly ranked since these are crucial elements to a strong liver supplement. Dr. Martin’s Nutrition contained both of these, providing a thorough liver cleanse. NOW Foods is another quality liver supplement that has artichoke, N-Acetyl cysteine and methionine to help produce glutamine, which aids in powerful liver detoxification.
FAQs
Q: Do liver supplements work?
A: The effectiveness of liver supplements is open to debate, but many doctors will recommend them to their patients with hepatitis and other liver diseases. Liver supplements contain a host of beneficial ingredients such as milk thistle, artichoke, alfalfa, celery seed, burdock root, yellow dock, grape seed extract and turmeric which have shown promise in clinical studies (1). Liver supplements may improve your digestive health, bone health, production of bile, blood pressure, cholesterol, liver function, brain function and blood sugar levels.
Q: Are liver supplements hard on your liver?
A: No, liver supplements are not hard on your liver. In fact, liver supplements have many medicinal herbs that provide you with beneficial effects. Liver supplements often include milk thistle, artichoke, and dandelion; three powerful herbs that provide you with many health benefits, such as better brain function, improved blood pressure, improved cholesterol, aid in cancer treatment, and bone health.
Q: What does the milk thistle in liver supplements do?
A: The milk thistle treats various liver problems, including cirrhosis, jaundice, hepatitis, and gallbladder disorders. Many liver supplements contain 200 mg of milk thistle, which contains the active ingredient, silymarin (2). Silymarin reduces the free radicals in your body by acting as an antioxidant. It has pharmacological properties, including hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and cardioprotective activities.
Q: What are the side effects of milk thistle in liver supplements?
A: Some side effects that may occur if you take a milk thistle supplement include abdominal bloating/pain, allergic reactions, diarrhea, gas, indigestion, itching, loss of appetite, and nausea.
Q: Does milk thistle in liver supplements detox your liver?
A: Since silymarin, the active ingredient in milk thistle, acts as an antioxidant by reducing free radical production, it could cause a detoxifying effect. This will improve your liver function and keep your body and organs safe by protecting them from harmful toxins. Your liver is responsible for storing nutrients your body can use, and it’s one of the largest organs in the body.
Q: Can you drink alcohol while taking liver supplements?
A: Although too much alcohol negatively affects your liver, it shouldn’t affect the milk thistle in liver supplements. In fact, milk thistle can lessen the severity of alcohol-induced liver disease. When alcohol breaks down in your liver it can produce acetaldehyde and highly reactive molecules, free radicals.
This can damage your liver cells and cause serious liver disease. Some symptoms to look for if alcohol has affected your liver include abdominal pain and tenderness, dry mouth and increased thirst, fatigue, jaundice (yellowing of the skin), loss of appetite, and nausea.
Q: What medication should not be taken with milk thistle in liver supplements?
A: Allergy drugs, drugs for cholesterol, anti-anxiety drugs, antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs, and more (3) should be avoided while taking a liver supplement. Antiplatelet and anticoagulants drugs are medication to stop blood from clotting. It’s important to avoid these because these medications are broken down by the same liver enzymes as milk thistle, which can cause liver damage.
Q: Is the milk thistle in liver supplements good for your kidneys?
A: Yes, because silymarin, the ingredient found in milk thistle, stimulates protein synthesis, and cell regeneration in your kidneys. Your kidneys are important for regulating extracellular fluid volume, osmolarity, ion concentrations, PH, the excretion of wastes and toxins, and the production of hormones.
If something is wrong with your kidneys, you may experience fatigue, trouble sleeping, dry and itchy skin, excessive urination, blood in your urine, and your ankles and feet could become swollen.
Q: Why is silymarin used for liver supplements?
A: Silymarin is the active ingredient in milk thistle and is used for many health reasons. It treats liver problems, lowers cholesterol, and controls blood sugar levels. Lowering your bad cholesterol (LDL) is important for good cardiovascular health and controlling your blood sugar levels is important to protect you from diabetes.
Q: What are the side effects of silymarin in liver supplements?
A: Abdominal bloating/pain, allergic reactions, diarrhea, gas, indigestion, itching, loss of appetite, and nausea are all possible side effects of taking a silymarin supplement. Silymarin has many benefits though that include liver support, good skin health, reduced cholesterol, managed weight loss, reducing insulin resistance, and improving allergic asthma symptoms.
Q: Do artichokes in liver supplements cleanse the liver?
A: Yes, because artichoke increases your bile production, which aids your body in getting rid of toxins in your liver.
Q: What is the benefit of artichoke in liver supplements?
A: Artichoke is anti-inflammatory and packed with antioxidants that may improve your digestive system, protect your liver and lower blood sugar levels.
Q: What are the side effects of artichoke extract in liver supplements?
A: If you take an artichoke extract supplement, you could experience gas, an upset stomach, or diarrhea. Also, you may experience allergic reactions, although this is typically seen in those allergic to plants, such as marigolds, daisies, and other similar herbs.
Q: What does dandelion extract in liver supplements do?
A: Dandelion extract treats stomach and liver problems. It can also help with acne, eczema, high cholesterol, heartburn, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes (4), and cancer.
Q: What are the side effects of using dandelion in liver supplements?
A: Dandelion could cause allergic reactions, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, or heartburn in some people.
Q: What is licorice root in liver supplements good for?
A: Licorice root (5) is anti-inflammatory and has antimicrobial effects. It can help your respiratory system, treat ulcers, and give you better digestive health.
Q: Is the licorice root in liver supplements harmful?
A: Licorice root could cause high blood pressure and low potassium levels. If your blood pressure is too high, you can develop cardiovascular issues and if you don’t have enough potassium you could get electrolyte imbalances that could affect your hydration and muscles.
Q: Is the licorice in liver supplements good for losing weight?
A: It can help you reduce your body fat and lose weight. That’s because it reduces your appetite and helps you feel satiated, so you end up eating less. Exercise and diet is the best way to lose weight, but it can be tough to do without a helping hand. One of the best ways to accelerate your weight loss progress is to decrease your appetite. Of course, if you aren’t hungry, you end up eating less which makes you lose weight.
Q: Does licorice root in liver supplements increase your testosterone?
A: Yes, one study proved it to increase total and free DHEA testosterone levels in males and females by 48.3% and 56.9% (6). Since testosterone is linked to muscle mass, this can also be an excellent supplement for building muscle and improving your body composition. Testosterone plays a key role in your overall health and is responsible for bone density, fat distribution muscle mass and strength, facial and body hair, red blood cell production, sex drive, and sperm production.
Recap
Liver supplements are useful for filtering your body of harmful toxins from your digestive tract. A quality liver supplement will also repair your liver and have it functioning at optimal capacity.
More often than not, liver supplements are packed with powerful herbs that can restore other health issues, such as osteoporosis and age-related brain dysfunction.
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