By recognizing the importance of liver health, you can strive to optimize your mind and your body.
An Introduction to Your Liver
Let’s start with an overview of the liver and the importance of liver health. The liver is one of our most complex and powerful organs, and there are definitely some myths surrounding it, especially having to do with liver detoxing and cleansing.
The liver serves well over 500 functions in our bodies. It’s part of the body’s digestive system, which is composed of the stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, gallbladder, and liver. The latter three organs lie outside of the digestive tract but are responsible for producing enzymes, removing toxins, and storing necessary digestive substances.
An Organ of Many Talents
The liver is classified as a gland because of the chemicals it secretes. It produces bile, a substance necessary for digestion and absorption of fats, vitamins, and cholesterol in the small intestine. However, the liver does much more than create bile.
The liver also metabolizes bilirubin, which creates hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is, in turn, used to create new generations of blood cells. It filters and removes a variety of compounds from the body like alcohol and drugs as well as excessive hormones. In addition, the liver stores years’ worth of backstock of vitamins and minerals. These few examples of the many functions of this multifaceted organ illustrate the importance of liver health.
Liver and Disease
Our livers are powerful, yes, but without a regular health regimen geared towards the importance of liver health bad things can happen to it. Hepatitis can be the result of a virus, toxins, or an autoimmune response and is characterized by inflammation to the liver. Using illicit drugs can greatly increase your risk of contracting hepatitis. Excessive alcohol abuse can cause cirrhosis of the liver. Failure to maintain a healthy bodyweight can lead to fatty liver disease.
The good news is that livers have the miraculous ability to regenerate completely, even if only 25% of the liver remains. And this regeneration can happen very fast. The liver is the only internal organ with this capability, and regeneration can occur in as little as two weeks in humans! Some diseases can slow down or completely stop liver regeneration, though, so don’t think of your liver as indestructible.
What Can You Do to Support Liver Health?
Right now, you can begin to optimize liver health and prevent liver disease with practical steps like:
- Limiting alcohol consumption
- Never mixing medications (unless those medications are prescribed by a doctor)
- Avoiding smoking and illicit drug use
- Maintaining a healthy diet
- Maintaining a regular workout regimen
- Drinking Phyllanthus niruri tea to promote digestive system health
The Importance of Liver Health
We hope you find this information valuable as you continue on your path towards overall health. You can also read about the liver’s relationship with digestion, blood, glucose, fat, filtration, and various other body systems.
The liver is just one small part of the wonder of the human body, but by understanding the building blocks of health you can optimize both your mind and your body.