Do you know how important your liver is to your health and why it needs daily detox? The liver is one of the hardest working organs in the body. An unhealthy liver can lead to a variety of physical and mental health issues.
How Does the Liver Support the Body?
The liver metabolizes food, generating fuel for the body as it turns glucose into glycogen. It also converts vitamins and minerals into functional forms for the body, stores nutrients to utilize later, and breaks down waste products that are eventually excreted.
Toxins from things we take in, like alcohol, drugs, food additives, pesticides, polluted air and water all pass through the liver. This busy organ filters harmful substances from the blood while altering the chemical makeup of those substances so that they are more water-soluble. Then the waste is excreted through urine and bowel movements.
The liver is vital to proper circulation. It produces blood clotting elements and proteins to dissolve clots that are no longer necessary, breaks down old red blood cells, freeing the iron they contain so that it can be reused, and creates albumin, a blood protein that transports certain minerals throughout the body. A sluggish liver leads to poor circulation of blood throughout the body. This is why liver problems are linked to cold hands and feet, migraines and nearsightedness.
The liver is also necessary for the production of hormones, and produces carrier proteins that transport hormones via the blood. Adding to this, the liver even produces immune cells to remove harmful bacteria from the blood, and is involved in the daily synthesis of cholesterol.
Caring for Your Liver - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
There are several ways to care for, detoxify, and repair your liver, but there are also dangerous "liver flushes" that actually do more harm than good.
The Good – Healthy Ways to Support the Liver
Most plant foods contain phytochemicals that aid in detoxification. Aim for at least two or three servings per day of foods rich in phytochemicals, especially chlorophyll from dark, rich green vegetables (or Evergreen).
Proper hydration is critical. Each day, drink half your body weight in ounces of water. For even greater detoxification benefits from your water, add Calli Tea and Fortune Delight.
Superior nutrition is also extremely beneficial to the liver. Healing roots and herbs like those found in our products can help the body regenerate liver cells very efficiently. Also, beetroot, dandelion root, and Chinese yam stimulate production of bile and its flow from the liver. You will find these ingredients in MetaBalance 44 and Nuplus.
The Bad – Unhealthy Liver Cleanses Do More Harm Than Good
One popular liver cleanse involves fasting with your only nutrition being a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 3 days, or up to as many as you can take. We advise against this for a few reasons.
First, flushes are only a short term solution to a lifelong challenge. Second, a harsh cleanse can overwork other organs throughout the body and cause lingering side effects. Third, once the cleanse is complete, the toxins start piling up again. You flush your toilet every day, right? You don’t want to let toxins accumulate until the next cleanse, a few months or even years down the road. This is why we favor daily detox with products like Calli Tea and Fortune Delight.
Also it is a good idea to know the risks of any cleanse, especially for people with nutritional deficiencies, gallstones or chemical sensitivities. Risks include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. Plus, it takes longer than a few days to cleanse the liver, reestablish normal bile, and regenerate liver cells, so a 2 or 3 day cleanse is really pointless.
More Ugly – Toxins to Avoid When You Really Love Your Liver
Certain medications and drugs damage the liver. Here are just a few of the harmful side effects:
Liver inflammation stems from more than 100 products that contain the painkiller and fever reducer acetaminophen (Tylenol).
Bile flow impairment can be caused by birth control pills, the antibiotic erythromycin, the psychiatric drug chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and anabolic steroids.
Elevated liver enzyme levels and possible liver failure may result from cholesterol-lowering statins.
Drug-induced hepatitis can occur from statin drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve).
Liver toxicity can accumulate from the arrhythmia drug amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone) or the rheumatoid arthritis and cancer drug methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall).
Avoid unnecessary prescription and nonprescription drugs—and never use higher-than-recommended doses.
Avoid stresses on the liver from things like alcohol, caffeine, sugar, artificial sweeteners, saturated fats (found in meats and dairy foods) and trans fats (such as hydrogenated vegetable oils and shortening).
Reduce stress through relaxation techniques, such as meditation or deep breathing. Regular exercise also alleviates stress and helps improve circulation.
What Happens If The Liver Is Unhealthy?
When the liver is "unhealthy," it cannot detoxify substances fast enough or thoroughly enough to eliminate them efficiently. Consequently, remaining toxins exit the liver and move around to other parts of the body, creating free radicals (unstable molecules that cause damage as we age). Eventually, the body slips the toxins into fatty tissues, as well as cells of the brain and central nervous system. These toxins are slowly released into the blood, contributing to many health problems, including arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines and poor memory. Love your liver and it will provide a lifetime of support and superb functionality.
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Site contentby Cliff Smith
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