Last week the headlines read:
Why acetaminophen is the 'most common cause of liver injury' in Canada.
Yes, pain killers evenTylenol and Advil can damage the liver when taken at the maximum dose recommended, 2 every 4 hours, over a period of time.
(Next week I'll write about natural pain relief!)
Any chemical is hard on your
liver. It performs over 400 functions and works hard to process and detox all of the chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis.
- Air pollution we breathe
- Food additives
- Pesticides and herbicides in our food and drinks
- Alcohol
- Heavy metals
- Fatty foods
- Prescription drugs, etc.
No
wonder most of us have a liver that is congested or sluggish!
You've heard the expression, "If mama aint happy, aint nobody happy?"
The same can be said for your liver. "If your liver aint happy, aint nobody happy."
Literally!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine the liver is the gland of anger. Show me someone who has angry
outbursts or is easily irritable and frustrated and no doubt their liver is congested.
Many people who are depressed have a liver that is sluggish.
The liver is the largest and most complex organ. It performs so many tasks including balancing hormones and helping you lose weight.
Here are just a few functions:
- Serves as a warehouse of nutrients to
be released out into the blood as needed.
- Quality control center for digestion, removing toxins
- Finds toxins in the blood and helps to render them harmless and water soluble
- It detoxifies many different substances. Excess hormones, neuro transmitters that are no longer needed.
- Breaks down alcohol into sugar,
- Gets rid of liposoluble toxins stored in fat
- When you lose weight the toxins are released, so the liver has to do this job of releasing
the toxins.
- Produces bile to digest fat
- Makes cholesterol to transport fat through the body. LDL (said to be bad) takes fat out.
- Maintains blood sugar levels by storing glycogen, also stored in muscles to keep blood sugar levels stable
