LIVER FACTS.

Our liver performs over 500 functions. Some of these important functions include supplying glucose to the brain, cleaning the blood, combating infections, storing nutrients, producing cholesterol and making bile.


Your liver is the largest glandular organ (about 3lbs)
It can regenerate itself. Even if only 25% of it is still healthy your liver can regenerate itself into a full liver again! The liver can regenerate in 30 days!
At any given point in time, liver contains 10% of the total blood in the body. It filters around 1.4 liters of blood every single minute.


1. It stocks iron, vitamins and minerals - A, D, K and B12 AND SUGAR in form of glucogen.

A "warehouse" that takes out important vitamins and nutrients from the food we eat and stocks them up. It keeps supplying these nutrients to the body when we need them, also maintaining a constant supply of iron to the body.

Our liver is the storehouse of any excess sugar that we consume. It stores this sugar in form of a compound known as glycogen. Between meals when our body needs sugar, the liver breaks down the glycogen to form glucose. 

  2. It is the biggest detoxifier and converter in your body and process hormones

* It detoxifies the harmful substances / toxins that we put in our body either deliberately or unintentionally through food we eat or drink, alcohol and drugs...
* Almost all medicines that we consume are processed by the liver. Because our body is not capable of using the medicines as is, the liver breaks them down in a form that the body can use.
* Our body produces a chemical known as bilirubin. This is pretty toxic and if it goes unfiltered into the kidneys, it can damage them. The liver actually filters and makes bilirubin safe before sending it to the kidneys.
* The liver breaks down hormones like estrogen and testosterone then converts them into bile.

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.

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.
(Bile is also responsible for the characteristic brown color of the 

3. Clotting agent
The liver is responsible for producing enzymes and chemicals that helps the blood to clot in the event of bleeding due to a cut. People with an unhealthy liver bruise easily.

4. The liver is also responsible for making cholesterol. While high levels of low density lipoprotein or (bad cholesterol) is actually bad, cholesterol is also required for building cells as well as hormones. Hormones are necessary for normal functioning of the body because they can be rightly termed as the messengers in our body. Absence of hormones will lead to abnormal body functioning because they will fail to communicate properly.

5. It contains fat
10% of our liver is made up of fat. If the fat content in the liver goes above 10% its called fatty liver and makes you more likely to get type 2 diabetes. Fatty liver fails at storing glycogen made by glucose from food.

6. The liver breaks proteins down into amino acids.
The food we eat is not sufficient for fulfilling the protein needs of our body therefore the liver produces its own protein.


LIVER ISSUES 
The deficiencies in our diet as well as the excessive and habitual consumption of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, food additives, pharmaceutical and OTC (over-the-counter) drugs are killing our liver cells.
Plus, environmental pollutants such as garden chemicals, cosmetic ingredients, home repair materials and household cleaning products are overtaxing our liver.
A damaged liver has difficulty removing toxins. And, if toxins remain in our system they can build up in our blood and our brain.
A struggling liver can cause a variety of health problems, including:

Headaches
Dark urine
Loss of appetite
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea, and light colored stools
Enlarged blood vessels, easy bruising
Anxiety and depression
Mental confusion
PMS
Exhaustion and fatigue
Jaundice, or yellowing of the skin
Impaired libido (sex drive)
Food allergies and chemical sensitivities

LIVER WELLNESS
Taking care of your liver and the rest of your body gives the best chance for a healthy future.

- A balanced diet rich in vegetables can actually help a damaged liver to regenerate new liver cells. Since most of what we eat, breathe, and absorb through our skin must be refined and detoxified by the liver, special attention to nutrition and diet can help keep the liver healthy.
While high protein diets are generally well-tolerated by healthy adults, a dramatic increase in protein-rich foods may be dangerous for people with severe liver disease.
Fried and processed foods can also damage the liver. Hydrogenated fats and the chemicals found in processed foods cause the liver to work harder, increasing the burden on an already taxed organ.

- Antioxidants neutralize the toxins processed by the liver and represent an important element to include when practicing liver wellness.

- In addition to being an antioxidant, the herb milk thistle contains a powerful liver ally, silybin. Silybin prohibits toxins from entering the liver, protects the liver from further damage and has even been shown to assist in the production of new liver cells.

- COLON HYDROTHERAPY BY KEEPING THE COLON CLEAN AND BY REMOVING PART OF THE CHEMICALS AND TOXINS FROM THE BODY HELP REDUCE THE WORKLOAD ON THE LIVER AND ASSIST IN KEEPING YOUR LIVER HEALTHY.