I didn’t used to pay much attention to my liver when I was in my 20’s but as I get older I’m realising what an important organ it is.

First I learnt about it in great detail when I studies Naturopathy and now I keep discovering how vital it is through practising and helping patients to optimise its function.

Liver has a list of actions it needs to get through and the first two are toxins or chemicals it needs to metabolise and eliminate are medications or any drugs and the second one is alcohol. If it’s constantly busy detoxing through these two it won’t have time to do other things like produce bile to break down fats, recycle and get rid off old hormones, store fat soluble vitamins and the list goes on.

If you are in your 40’s, 50’s or older you are probably noticing that you can’t drink alcohol in large amounts the way used to when you were younger and you might not be a fan of fried or oily foods like you may have in the past. This has all to do with aging liver and we need to look after it.

  • eat bitter foods like rocket
  • eat foods high in Sulphur like garlic
  • reduce your alcohol intake and have some alcohol free days
  • include herbal teas Dandelion, Chicory and Burdock as they support liver function
  • reduce or stop smoking
  • reduce or stop sugar intake

 

25 FACTS ABOUT HUMAN LIVER

25 Facts About Human Liver

Human liver is a very vital organ. It is so important that if it stops functioning even for a single day, a person will simply die. Unfortunately, it is one of the least thought about organs. So, it is time that we change our view and start giving it the much deserved attention. So, let us today learn 25 interesting facts about human liver. Most of us already know these facts but let us consider it a refresher course.

25 Interesting Facts About Human Liver

1. Humans are not the only living beings to have a liver. Any living creature with a spinal column or a backbone has a liver. In short every vertebrate in this world has a liver.

2. Artificial liver replacement in humans or any other vertebrate is not yet possible.

3. Liver protects our body from harmful substances or toxin that we put in our body either deliberately or unintentionally through food we eat or drink.

4. The liver also protects our body from the toxins by cleaning the blood from chemicals that are spontaneously within our body because of day to day activities.

5. The chemicals removed from the blood are sent into our intestines in form of bile. These chemicals are then removed in form of feces or stool. These chemicals may also be sent into the kidneys where they are filtered out from the body in form of urine.

6. Liver is responsible for producing bile. Bile is very important because it helps in digesting food. Of course, without bile the body would simply fail to remove toxins from the body.

7. The bile produced by the liver is also important because it helps to breakdown fats into smaller particles so that the pancreatic lipase can digest fat better.

8. Bile produced by liver is also responsible for the characteristic brown color of the stool.