Our Multi-Tasker -- The Liver!

Let's talk about one of the major powerhouses of our whole bodily system - the liver. Many people understand and know that the liver is the main detoxifier of the body, but there's a lot more to this organ. Like I said in the description, it's no accident that the word "live" is in "liver". The word "liver" comes from the Old English word "lifer", which is tied to the Old English verb lifian or libban, meaning "to live". In the past, the liver was considered to be the the center of existence. Read on if you want to learn more.

Let's just quickly cover the detoxifying abilities of the liver before we move on to its other major functions in the human body. This organ removes toxins from our bodies by cleansing the blood and breaking down substances from things we ingest or even breathe in. It works to filter out these harmful substances by breaking them down into less harmful products to be eliminated by the body's elimination systems. It also does this to remove ammonia, which is a product of protein (aka amino acids) breakdown. It also recycles old blood cells with this process. It does this ALL the time, while you're awake or asleep or partying or whenever! Which means that if we add more toxins (News Flash!! Alcohol, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, etc. - these are all extra toxins in case you didn't know that) to its workload, things may start to suffer in this area or any of the other following areas.

So we've discussed the liver as a filter, what's next? Digestion. Yep, this little (ok, it's fairly large) organ also assists your digestive system. First, the bile it produces is what helps your digestive system to break down certain foods. Specifically, this happens in the small intestine where the bile breaks down fats and helps the body absorb fat soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, E, D, and K). Once that part is going, it also helps process and absorb the nutrients from your digested foods as well as the storing of glucose (sugar) as glycogen for use when your body needs a burst of energy.

Maybe you knew those two functions but did you know that it also has a lot to do with the endocrine system? First off, it produces the IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1) hormone for growth but it also produces angiotensinogen which helps with blood pressure regulation. It produces thrombopoietin & hepcidin hormones as well which help regulate iron absorption and platelet production. It helps the thyroid function by doing the work of changing inactive T4 to active T3, it synthesizes sexual hormones (estrogens, testosterone, progesterone) as well as corticosteroids and it synthesizes binding proteins for the other different endocrine systems. The liver has a major role in most of the endocrine system including metabolism and cholesterol production.

As you can see, the liver doesn't just filter things. A lot of times, a strained liver can effect your digestion, your skin (rashes or acne can be toxins not getting processed by an overworked liver), joint pains that come from unprocessed ammonia in the blood (ammonia and uric acid are linked in gout), a sluggish digestive system can be a sign that the liver is needing some TLC. Researchers are connecting a lot of female problems to the liver now so, if you're a menstruating woman, you may want to think about that.

All in all, the liver is an amazing body part and I can really see how people could've considered it to be the center player of all of the body functions, the quarterback if you will. As we get older, our livers slow down which could explain why when we'd get drunk in our twenties we were fine the next day and now, some of us, may still be drunk the next day. Take care of your liver, there are so many wonderful alcohol free beverages out there that would be a way more wonderful way to tell your liver that you love it. Choose less fatty foods, less alcohol, less sugars, less environmentally toxic housecleaning products, etc. Eat more veggies and good, healthy grains. Choose herbal teas/tinctures that help support your liver or ones to help your liver detox. We only have one liver and I think I'd like mine to help me last a very long time, how about you?

Closing fact: Did you know that they can regrow your liver from a slice of it in the lab? Did you also know that you can survive from having a portion of your liver removed? But, hey, let's try not to let our livers down and get to that point!