A healthy liver helps to control hormones, to digest food, to facilitate nutrients and to detoxify. But not if you abuse it. Learn how to help it along!
Too may of us have already lost a gallbladder. It is one of the most common operations performed these days. Some naturopaths believe that the reason is mostly due to food allergies. I agree and cutting out foods such as wheat that don’t suit you is easier while you still have this little sack of marbles inside you. I know many people who are bitterly sorry for having lost their gallbladder because they no longer have a reserve of bile to handle the food they eat.
Learn to Love Your Liver and Protect It
The liver expels waste from your system. It also makes hormones, enzymes and metaboiltes that keep you fit, energetic and able to utilize your food. It breaks down and expels surplus “bad” estrogen from the bloodstream as well as damaged cells and material with cancer-forming potential.
The liver does not have special beta receptors to engage with hormones that help us prevent and fight cancer. It only has alpha receptors that attract oestrogen that stimulates cellular proliferation (cancer).
We are exposed to hormone replacements, birth control, xenestrogens and hormones in the food chain that need to be controlled. Hormone output levels in urine tests will show how well the liver is controlling oestrogen metabolites that hit the cancer button in the liver and possibly elsewhere if they are not disassembled and flushed out.
What You Eat Affects the Liver and Disrupts Hormones
Excessive amounts of greasy starchy food block the liver’s ability to control hormones like DHT that exacerbate prostate problems and cause the polycystic ovarian syndrome in females. Such eating habits also encourage the liver to release aromatase, a hormone that converts testosterone into pro-cancerous forms of oestrogen that cause obesity. People with high cholesterol problems and sticky blood most certainly have a problem with their liver.
Some of the anti-cholesterol drugs are very bad for the liver. If the bile ducts of the gall bladder are blocked and you have gallstones, then the liver cannot function properly and everything gets silted up. You start to feel sluggish, constipated, bloated, tired, and unable to digest fats. Look in the mirror at the whites of your eyes. If they are not snow white and sparkling, then the liver is taking stress. Stick out your tongue. Is it dirty and furry? Not good – time to get on with the great flush out.
If you no longer have a gallbladde, you need to be even more careful of a wheat intolerance.
What to Take and What to Eat for a Healthy Happy Liver
The herb milk thistle (sylimarin) is excellent for regenerating a weak, damaged or diseased liver.
To stimulate bile, take herbal bitters that include gentian, spices, orange peel and so on. Watch out for aloe bitters!
Lecithin is very important as a fat emulsifier and eggs are a good source. They also contain choline and inositol. Best of all, eggs do not raise cholesterol. Higher doses of choline and inositol can be bought separately and lecithin granules from health shops and supermarkets can be mixed with food should you be a vegan.
Vitamin B complex is very important, especially to break down excess oestrogen.
Antioxidants such vitamin C, A, D and E are important. By now you should already be familiar with most of these supplements for all round health benefits.
Take omega-3 oils, especially fish oils. Vegan sources are walnuts, flaxseeds and avocado pears.
Buy flaxseeds (linseeds) and grind up a few tablespoons every day for your family. Use on cereals, in smoothies and especially when you bake. There will be no more constipation, hormonal shortcomings or inflammation. Flaxseeds with the regular use of olive oil in your diet help to maintain the smooth functioning of the liver and the bowels. You will see evidence of cholesterol “flack” floating in the toilet, showing that you are now in control of cholesterol. Stay away from simple carbohydrates and watch out for food intolerances to keep it that way.
Increase your intake of foods high in potassium, like vegetables, bananas and especially blackstrap molasses.
Eat a lot of salted lemon pickle. Naturopaths recommend eating at least half a lemon a day. Also squeeze out a teaspoon or two of lemon juice into some of your glasses of water every day. (See my articles on probiotic foods.)
Make fresh juice and include lemon peels, fresh dandelion leaves and pumpkin seeds.(See my article on how to make these juices.)
Eat only foods that suit you to prevent inflammation, congestion and obesity.(See my article on blood type eating).
At bedtime, take calcium and magnesium supplements because calcium binds to toxins and is excreted via the bowels. It is a myth that calcium supplements cause kidney stones. Kidney stones come from skeletal minerals and are mainly due to magnesium and vitamin B6 deficiencies. If your system becomes more alkaline, you can relax about kidney stones too!
Have a good night and keep a glass of water by your bedside.
References:
Herbal Drugs and phytopharmaceuticals by Norman Grainger Bisset and Max Wichtl. (Editors) 1984 Medpharm scientific publishers. Aloe bitters page: 59 – 62
Sclero.org
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Copyright Sue Visser