Have you ever wondered what the job of your liver is?
Your liver is the “water treatment plant” or sewage system that is responsible for up to 1500 functions daily from feeding your cells to dumping out the sludge. It is the largest organ in your body and is also a gland.
I often have questions about where the liver is located, how the liver works, when to liver cleanse, and more so let’s dig in so I can answer a few questions!
My liver is on which side?
It weighs approximately 3 pounds and is situated behind your ribs on the upper right of your abdomen but is across most of your body.
Nourishing your 60-6100 trillion cells, directing hormones, detoxifying hundreds of chemicals and heavy metal toxicities, distributing energy, creating protein molecules used within every cell, while juggling billions of chemical reactions every second. It also is in charge of de-acidifying while cleaning your intestines.
The liver functions include producing protein and hormones, organ cells, cholesterol, amino acids, removing dead cells, recycling iron as well as storing vitamins and minerals. It is in charge of detoxifying drug components, parasites, alcohol, and bad bacteria. It filters over a quart of blood every minute.
There are a few reasons for liver bile to not flow properly such as gallstones that I will cover in its own article. Over time all of the back-ups cause liver malfunctions and disease. Nerve cells in the liver may become damaged due to low bile production. Without proper regeneration, the liver develops cirrhosis. It is the only organ that is known to regenerate (although we have had a thyroid do so). It is truly an amazing body part!
What is the process of digestion?
It begins when we eat and ingest. As we chew, enzymes change our food composition starting with our saliva. Once swallowed, the gastric juices in the stomach break down the particles before intestinal juices in the small intestine are joined by pancreatic juices. The food nutrients then end with the liver enzymes and bile salts for full absorption. When the tiny particles of digested food pass through the intestine walls into blood and lymph vessels the remainder of the unusable matter is then eliminated.
How does my liver cleanse?
Your liver has specialized cells in its blood vessels called Kupffer cells that are in charge of stopping pathogens and organisms from infecting your gut. To cleanse fast enough it needs to filter 3 pints of blood per minute while producing 1½ to 2¼ pints of bile daily! Considering all of the toxins, pathogens, bacteria, chemicals and such it has to filter out, you can see why it needs help in cleaning your liver from the outside.
What is bile?
Bile is a green-colored fluid that is alkaline. It is responsible for:
- fat digestion
- removing toxins within the liver
- maintaining normal fat levels in the blood
- keeping alkaline/acidity balance in the intestinal tract
- keeping bad bacteria from breeding out of control
When bile salts that break down, fats get “dirty” from being recycled. It can develop clumps of clotted bile or gallstones. This not only causes obvious problems with the gallbladder, but it can also disrupt digestion, nutrient absorption, elimination, and detoxification.
If we can increase the production of bile or appropriately supplement the amount dictated by your Hair Analysis oxidation/metabolism rate we can help the detox process daily. One can quickly feel the improvements in allergies, digestion, motility, nutrient absorption, immune response, and even chronic back pain.
As we recycle 2/3 of our bile, we need to keep it clean! Just as a car needs regular oil changes, so does our liver. If you are not properly detoxifying this dirty bile just keeps recirculating. If you throw gallbladder stones (and at the time they may feel like boulders) the flow is significantly impeded putting the brakes on hundreds of functions.
The bile is an yellowish fluid that is extremely bitter (you may know this if you’ve ever vomited bile). When you are low on volume, your fat will remain in your intestine and you may urinate or eliminate visible fat into the toilet. A good indicator is if your stool floats because the fat is lighter than water.
What is the difference between a liver cleanse vs liver detox?
Try to think of a liver cleanse as a spring cleaning of your entire house whereas a detox can be a slow and steady daily cleaning. Preparing for a cleanse to soften and push gallstones out of the liver and gallbladder needs to be purposeful. I will dig into the removal and issues gallstones cause in another article as it is in depth. A detox can be a daily cleaning practice of taking herbal supplements, enemas, cleansing organic celery juice, or dietary changes. Think of it as doing dishes and taking out the trash. As we are always taking in nutritious foods, we need to be cleaning the remnants of digestion out for optimal health.
How can Hair Analysis check on liver functions?
As I do a Hair Mineral Analysis I can tell if there is some liver is impaired if one has a high Calcium or is in a pattern called a Calcium Shell. It is as it sounds where calcium forms an egg shell-like coating around the cells making it harder to absorb nutrients and oxygen.
If a pathogen finds its way into the cell it can cause cellular death before it escapes. Since Calcium is absorbed best with fats, the inability to break it down will result in high and bio-unavailable amounts. In addition, the blood will strip Calcium from bone for use in the bloodstream triggering osteoporosis or poor bone density.
Keeping the liver clean and the correct mineral balance is necessary for the best quality of health possible.
Are you ready to find out where your health is at with a Hair Analysis?
LET’S CHAT about your health goals!
Read many more reasons on why you need a liver detox here. Do more to detox your lymphatic system here.
Copyright Scientific Nutrition, LLC 2021
