When it comes to good health and fighting off disease and illness, no organ is more important than the liver—your body’s personal toxic waste plant.

Are you experiencing two or more of the symptoms listed below?

• Acne
• Hair breakage
• Nightmares
• Difficulty losing weight
• Insomnia
• Exhaustion
• Flu-like feelings
• Difficulty thinking or focusing
• Pain under right rib
• Blood sugar imbalances

If so, your liver might be in need of a detox…

Your Liver at a Glance

The liver is a large, meaty organ that sits on the right side of your belly. Weighing approximately 3lbs, it is the largest organ in your body. It is divided into two sections, called the right and the left lobes. Your gallbladder sits under your liver, along with parts of the pancreas and intestines. Your liver, gallbladder, pancreas and intestines work together to digest, absorb, and process food. But that’s not your liver’s only function…

Researchers have found that your liver is responsible for performing nearly 500 vital functions including:

• Production of bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion
• Production of certain proteins for blood plasma
• Production of cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body
• Conversion of excess glucose into glycogen for storage (glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for energy)
• Regulation of blood levels of amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins
• Processing of hemoglobin for use of its iron content (the liver stores iron)
• Conversion of poisonous ammonia to urea (urea is an end product of protein metabolism and is excreted in the urine)
• Clearing the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances
• Regulating blood clotting
• Resisting infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the bloodstream
( http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/PATIENTCARE/healthcare_services/liver_biliary_pancreatic_disease/liver_anatomy_function/Pages/index.aspx )

To simplify, your liver is your body’s processing plant, chemically breaking down anything that you consume. It’s your liver’s job to distinguish between the nutrients you need to absorb (like vitamins and minerals), and the dangerous or unnecessary substances that must be filtered out of your bloodstream (like drugs or alcohol). Unfortunately, maintaining the health of your liver is easier said than done, especially in this day and age. Pollution, processed foods, medications, and alcohol clog and overwhelm your liver, making it difficult for it to process the nutrients and fats your body needs. This causes toxin build up in the body, drastically affecting your overall health and wellbeing—it for this reason that monitoring and detoxifying the liver every once in awhile is important.

9 Simple Ways to Detoxify Your Liver

1) Eat a well balanced, nutritionally adequate diet. Moreover, try to consume as many natural, organic foods as possible. Processed foods and pesticide-riddled produce are filled with toxins and tend to clog the liver.
2) Minimize your consumption of smoked, cured and salted foods, as well as deep-fried and fatty foods you and your family consume. Salt and fatty foods have been known to contribute to fatty liver disease
3) Avoid drugs and alcohol. Processing drugs and alcohol is very difficult and damaging to the liver.
4) Eat more fibre! A high-fibre diet is incredibly helpful in keeping the liver healthy.
5) Avoid consuming simple sugars. Sugar causes deposition of fat in the liver!
6) Drink Water! Staying hydrated improves the flow of nutrients to, and waste products from, the liver. Not drinking enough water may increase the risk of gallstones.
7) Spice up your dish with Tumeric. Turmeric has impressive anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body, including the liver. Excellent for a liver virus or infection (cinnamon and licorice also help detoxify the liver)
8) Cleanse and protect the liver by taking herbs such as dandelion root, burdock and milk thistle, and drinking green tea.
9) Increase the amount of Vitamin C in your diet. Vitamins C helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that drives away toxins.

Interested in finding out if your liver is due for a cleanse? Santé Chiropractic and Wellness Centre offers the Es-Teck Full Body Analysis. The ES- Teck System is advanced technology and is a Health Canada registered Class III Medical Device. Using a finger “Oximeter” it allows for observation of heart rate, tissue oxygen uptake, arterial stiffness, hemodynamic indicators and autonomic nervous system (ANS) levels of activity. It is able to detect whether your liver is clogged, and allows us to provide you with personalized recommendations so that you can live a healthy, long life! Book your very own Es-Teck Full Body Analysis by calling the clinic at (613) 837-2883.

If you found the information in this blog useful please feel free to pass it along to your family and friends! You never know…it could save their life!
Oh, and be sure to leave any questions, comments, or feedback below! We’d love to hear from you!

 

 

References
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-liver
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=fightdz&dbid=11
http://www.oprah.com/health/What-Can-Go-Wrong-with-Your-Liver_1
http://life.gaiam.com/article/10-ways-detoxify-your-body