Your Liver
Your liver is one of the most important organs in your entire body. It weighs 5lbs and uses up 12% of your total energy supply.
Your body can function without a stomach or colon but not without the liver.
In traditional Chinese medicine, a healthy liver represents a healthy person. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, hormone imbalances, poor digestion and headaches are treated by improving liver health.
What the liver does
Storage:
Blood and vitamins A, D,E, K, B12, iron and glycogen.
Conversion:
Glycogen (a highly concentrated form of carbohydrate) to glucose and vice versa therefore is very important for blood sugar control.
Production:
Makes clotting factors in the blood together with many of the substances vital for proper functioning of the body.
Detoxification:
Neutralises toxins from the lungs, the bowel and the skin. When the liver is overburdened it cannot filter out the poisons in the blood properly leaving you feeling tired, sluggish and generally unwell. You will also be more prone to colds, infections and allergies. Your metabolism becomes sluggish making it much more difficult to lose weight
What overworks the liver?
- Alcohol
- Prescription drugs
- Recreational drugs
- Smoking
- Toxic Chemicals
- Improper digestion
- Toxic bowel
- Hypothyroid
- Repressed emotion
Where diet is concerned:
-
- Overeating
- Refined carbohydrates (sugar)
- Processed fats (trans fats)
- Fast food and junk food
- Low fibre intake
- Insufficient fruit & veg intake
- Eating when stressed or eating in a hurry
Tips for a healthy liver:
- Cut right back on the liver over workers listed previously, e.g. alcohol, sugar, caffeine, dairy & red meat
- Up your fruit and vegetable intake to 6-8 servings
- a day including cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, ale or pak choi
- Use turmeric, fresh ginger & cinnamon in your cooking
- Up your water intake: at least 8 glasses a day
- Eat a diet rich in fibre and low in saturated fats
- Take plenty of exercise, this must be aerobic bringing oxygen to the body
- Drink green tea which is good for the liver
- Eat organic if possible
- Follow a gentle detox 1-3 times a year