Lose Weight with a Healthy Liver
Your liver and your bowels are essential to good health. The largest organ in the body, the liver is roughly the size of a football. It is located on the right side of your abdomen, behind the lower ribs, and provides the body with critical functions like filtering blood, eliminating toxins and producing factors that help blood clot. It processes many drugs into forms that are easier for the body to use—forms that can be excreted through the bile or forms that can be filtered and eliminated by the kidneys. It also converts sugar into fat (triglycerides) and glycogen (a form of sugar stored by the liver), which can later be released to produce energy to meet the body’s need.
The work of the liver is critical to the brain and central nervous system. These tissues receive their energy supply only from sugar, so they are vulnerable when the liver is damaged and unable to regulate and supply chemicals in the body. As you will see upon reading the list of functions of your liver performs daily, it plays a crucial role in blood sugar balance and fat metabolism too.
The Functions of a Healthy Liver
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• Maintains blood sugar control. Storage of glucose in the form of glycogen allows the liver to remove excess sugars from the blood and return it to the blood when blood glucose concentrations begin to fall. It produces quick energy when it is needed from glycogen stores. A person with an under-functioning liver will have three times as much sugar in the blood after consuming large amounts of carbohydrates than a person with a normal liver.
• Form new proteins. The liver converts amino acids from one type to another, important in metabolic processes in the body.
• Store vitamins (vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin D), minerals (including iron in the form of ferritin) and sugars to prevent shortages of body fuel.
• Regulate the transport of fat stores. The liver uses fatty acids to produce energy for bodily functions.
• Convert carbohydrates and protein into fat.
• Aid digestion by producing bile necessary for the breakdown of food.
• Control the production and elimination of cholesterol.
• Neutralize and destroy poisonous substances, toxins, drugs and alcohol.
• Cleanse the blood and get rid of waste products, including waste products from normal biochemical processes.
• Maintain hormone balance through breakdown of excess hormones and the production of others.
The Relationship between Liver, Bowel Function, and Cholesterol Metabolism
Sufficient fiber intake and optimal bowel function are essential to liver health. The liver is the major detoxification and fat-burning organ in the body through a complicated set of biochemical pathways. The liver pumps excessive fat and waste products out of the body through the bile into the small intestines. If your diet is high in fiber, this unwanted fat will be carried out of the body via the bowel. If your diet is low in fiber, some of the fats (especially cholesterol) and toxins that have been pumped by the liver into the gut, through the bile, will circulate back to the liver. This occurs via the enterohepatic circulation. The term enterohepatic circulation describes the recirculation of fluids, consisting mainly of bile acids, from the gut back to the liver. If a person is suffering from constipation, the amount of waste products reabsorbed from the gut will be increased as there is less movement through the digestive tract.
The liver circulates these bile acids back into the small intestine and the entire bile pool recycles through the enterohepatic cycle six to eight times a day. This is vitally important for those with excessive weight, toxicity problems and high cholesterol. The inclusion of plenty of raw fruits and vegetables as well as ground-up raw seeds will increase both soluble and insoluble fiber in the gut and reduce recirculation of unwanted fat and toxins. Some people find that rice or wheat bran, psyllium husks, flaxseeds and unprocessed homemade muesli can boost fiber efficiently.
If the liver filter is damaged by toxins or clogged with excessive waste material it will be less able to remove small fat globules circulating in the blood stream. The liver may not manufacture adequate amounts of the good cholesterol (HDL), which travels out of the liver to scavenge the bad cholesterol (LDL) from the blood vessel walls.
Ultimately, this poor liver function may increase your chances of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.
A “Liver Cleanse”
After all of your holiday indulgences, give your New Year’s resolution to “lose weight” a boost with a few of the methods listed below that will support a mild cleansing of the liver. When you do this you can possibly expect to experience an increase in energy, improved concentration, better digestion, a brighter complexion and fewer headaches. I recommend doing a cleanse such as this twice a year to keep your liver and bowels in optimal working condition!
Nutritional Tips for Improving Liver Function
There are many things you can do to help your liver health thereby aiding weight loss. The first step is to reduce the workload of the liver. Simple changes in your diet can be very helpful since the liver converts and detoxifies everything we eat and drink, so a well-balanced, nutritious diet is always a good start.
Try these suggestions:
• Flush your system by drinking eight glasses of water a day. Add lemon – it is great for a gentle cleansing of the liver.
• Consider a diet that is low in unhealthy fat and high in fiber. Ensure adequate intake of healthy types of fats such as fish oils, flaxseed oil, hemp seed or olive oil. Avoid over eating unhealthy, high-fat foods like fried foods, French fries and most fast food items. Poor quality processed foods like canned or frozen foods and processed meats and cheeses sometimes contain little fiber or few nutrients. They are often high in salt and should be avoided. Frozen goods can be very high in nutritional value if proper care is taken.
• Foods that are particularly beneficial for liver function include carrots, celery, lemons, beets, turmeric, rosemary, cumin and curries.
• Maintaining adequate protein intake and body weight is essential. Try to eat vegetables that are high in protein such as beans or legumes. Animal source proteins include meat, fish, eggs, poultry and dairy products. Lean meat is best. Trim fat off red meat and remove the skin from poultry. Protein is essential in maintaining healthy blood sugar balance. Since the liver maintains glucose levels by the breakdown of glycogen – the storage form of sugar, essential to brain and nervous system function – small frequent meals containing protein are recommended. This helps the liver work less.
• People with liver problems should be especially cautious about eating shellfish of any kind, as they can be a source of hepatitis A. Someone with an already damaged or stressed liver does not need to fight an additional battle.
Supplements for Improving Liver Function
Supplements that are useful in improving liver function include vitamin C with bioflavonoids, glutathione, selenium, vitamin E, coenzyme Q-10 and N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC). NAC is commonly used to counteract the liver-damaging effects of acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose. Sulfur-containing amino acids such as cysteine and methionine are also of benefit in improving liver function and detoxification.
Choline and inositol are “lipotrophic factors”, useful in the breakdown of fats that have accumulated in a fatty liver. Chronic liver conditions with liver damage may benefit from the use of these two compounds with milk thistle.
Herbal Medicines for Improving Liver Function
Many supplements are thought to help the liver. Perhaps the most researched of these is an herb called milk thistle. Its active ingredient is known as silymarin. It is effective in increasing the production of bile and assists in lowering cholesterol. In hepatitis patients, it can lower elevated liver enzymes and is beneficial in reducing many of the symptoms associated with compromised liver. Milk thistle is best taken twice per day on an empty stomach.
