Liver Health
Supporting your liver is essential!
The liver is one of your most important organs. You cannot live without it. It performs many vital functions including converting food to energy, filtering harmful toxins, making proteins that help blood clot, and producing bile, which is then excreted by the gallbladder, and is essential for digesting fats in our diet. The liver also helps to store vitamins and minerals and produces key proteins and enzymes that help to maintain hormonal balance in the body by regulating and directing hormones to perform their proper function.
The liver also plays a key role in helping the immune system fight infections and remove microorganisms from the blood stream. By removing pathogens and fighting infections, the liver supports your immune system.
Detoxification is one of the liver’s most important functions. The liver is often referred to as the “gatekeeper” because it absorbs and filters everything we put into our bodies. After filtering, the liver clears harmful toxins and waste while retaining the nutrients the body needs. These nutrients are then converted by the liver into essential blood components and released when needed. If you missed my article on the phases of liver detoxification and why supporting each phase is important, you can read that here:
The health of your liver can be damaged from environmental toxins (fumes, cigarette smoke, pesticides, cosmetics, heavy metals, etc. (1)), infectious organisms, alcohol and poor diet. While avoiding many of these toxins is not possible, protecting and supporting your liver is and it’s crucial to one’s health that one does so!
Chronic alcohol consumption depletes the liver of valuable glutathione, sulfur compounds and methylating elements such as zinc, riboflavin, B6, folate and B12 (2), among others.
A diet high in processed foods that contain toxic additives, preservatives, pesticides, GMO’s, etc. drain the liver of valuable glutathione, sulfur 5 compounds and methylating elements. Often times, individuals that consume a diet high in alcohol and processed foods are not consuming the key nutrients they need to produce glutathione, sulfotransferases and methylating agents. Most individual, especially those who drink alcohol and/or consume processed foods would be wise to take a high-quality, activated multivitamin.
Anyone with liver issues should be cognizant about what they are putting on and in their body. Using only certified organic, chemical free products would be a major help. This includes all food choices, personal hygiene products and household cleaning agents. Reducing toxin exposure from the environment including water and air filtration is very important.
Using detoxification techniques such as Epsom salt baths, coffee enemas, oil pulling, dry brushing, intermittent fasting, castor oil packs and infrared sauna are especially helpful for strengthening the liver. These should be done whenever possible.
Foods & Herbs for the Liver
Some of the best foods to benefit the liver include those that are rich in B vitamins, vitamin C and trace minerals. This would include lots of raw veggies like celery, spinach, cucumbers, romaine lettuce and steamed veggies from the cruciferous family. For those with gut-based issues, it is advisable to juice your veggies to better absorb the nutrients. Citrus fruit and berries are especially good for the liver.
Using herbs such as ginger, milk thistle, cilantro, watercress, wormwood, mint, horseradish, sorrel, radish, peppermint, parsley, dandelion, coriander, garlic and turmeric are great for helping aid your livers health and detoxification process.
Understanding Poor Liver and Gallbladder Function
If you read over the infographic above and realized that you have 3 or more of those symptoms, you may want to look into having the health of your liver and gallbladder checked, but first let me quickly explain a little about bile.
Good bile flow is necessary for toxin elimination from the body. In phase III of the liver detoxification process, toxins are transported out of the cells and into the urine or bile. Bile contains waste products that are released through bowel movements. Poor bile flow can contribute to the accumulation of toxins and liver problems. Thus, supporting liver function, gallbladder health, bile flow formation, and bile duct motility are critical for good bile flow.
There are some at home ways of checking the health of your liver and gallbladder, but testing will give you a much more accurate look at how they are functioning. Here are some at-home ideas of how to test the function of your liver and gallbladder:
Fat-Bomb Test: Eat 2 to 3 Chocolate Fat Bombs (you can find the recipe by a simple Google search). Wait 2 to 3 hours and evaluate how you feel. Do you have cramping, acid reflux, bloating, gas, loose stool? If so, you may have a gallbladder issue.
Check Meridians: Chinese medicine uses specific zones called “Meridians” to map your body. Through acupressure, acupuncture, and reflexology, which use these meridians, your body can begin to try and heal itself. Pain in any Meridian or trigger point may mean that the energy is stuck
Pain on The Outer Portion of The Hand: This is the reflexology center for the liver. If you have non-trauma or overuse related pain when you press in this area under the ring finger and pink and extending down to the wrist than it may indicate a liver problem.
Pain in the Ilial Tibial Band: This is another part of the liver-gallbladder channel, from the buttock area all the way down to the foot and into the 4th toe, although it is often most painful on the outer side of the thigh.
Pain Between Shoulder Blades: This is a referral pain based on the nerves that innervate the liver and gallbladder. Especially under the right shoulder blade region.
Cramping in 4th Toe, Knees and Thighs: One may have unique cramping patterns that affect the 4th toe along with the knees and thighs.
Liver Meridian Time: In traditional Chinese medicine, every organ has a specific 2-hour period of time where it is most active. The liver is most active between 1am – 3am. Consistently waking during these periods are signs of poor gallbladder and/or liver function.
If you are going to have bloodwork done and are concerned about your liver health, here is what you should request be ran:
Bilirubin (Normal range: 0-1.2 mg/dL)
GGTP: Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase (Normal range: 10-26 IU/L)
AST: Aspartate transaminase (Normal Range: 10-26 IU/L)
ALT: Alanine aminotransferase (Normal Range: 10-26 IU/L)
WBC: White Blood Cell Count (Normal range: 5-8)
Gut Health and the Liver
The health of your gut and the health of your liver go hand-in-hand. Improving one’s gut health is critical for the health of the liver and protecting the liver from disease.
When the gut lining is inflamed and damaged, the gut lining is more porous (“Leaky Gut”) than it should be. This allows undigested food molecules, bacteria, and fungi (and their toxins) to enter the bloodstream. Once they enter the bloodstream, these undigested particles and toxins head to the liver. They can put great strain on the liver causing inflammation and tissue damage.
If you believe you may have gut health issues, ordering an OAT and Stool test would be the best place to start in understanding what type of gut-based issues you have and why. If you need help ordering these tests, please let me know and I can assist you.
Conclusion
The health of your liver which includes your gallbladder, is critical to your overall health. Understanding how to support your liver, assess if you have a poor functioning liver and/or gallbladder, and getting to the root cause(s) of the issue are all vital to knowing how to help improve your overall health. This can look different for each person so working with a naturopath or integrative health practitioner can make a world of difference in your health journey!
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