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Boosting liver health to remove toxins from the body has been an integral part of Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine practices for thousands of years. Referred to as the ultimate multitasking organ, ancient practitioners believed that the liver was one of the primary organs that needed to be treated in sick patients. In ancient Chinese medicine, it’s said that “the physician who knows how to harmonize the liver knows how to treat the hundred diseases.”
Today we know that without a healthy liver, it’s impossible to have a properly working metabolism, healthy circulation, balanced hormones, clean blood and strong digestion. Experiencing symptoms like fatigue, abdominal pain, bloating and hormonal imbalances? These can all be signs that your liver isn’t functioning properly. In this case, it might be time for a liver cleanse and other liver-boosting lifestyle changes, such as adding more bitter foods to your diet and using herbal medicines, for example.
What Is the Liver?
What is the liver, and why is it considered one of the hardest working organs in the body?
The liver, the largest internal organ in the human body, is a digestive organ that sits on the upper right side of the belly. What does the liver look like? It’s described as being “meaty” due to its reddish-brown color. If you were to touch your liver, it would feel rubbery and semi-firm.
The liver is always communicating with other digestive organs, receiving information about the level of available nutrients or the presence of threats like prescription medications, heavy metals or toxic substances. As the main organ involved in detoxification, it’s the liver that recognizes toxic substances and converts them into harmless material that can be released. As described in the World Journal of Hepatology in a 2017 article, “Beyond the metabolic functions, the liver recently has been defined as an organ of immune system (IS) … The liver keeps a delicate balance between hepatic screening of pathogenic antigens and immune tolerance to self-antigens.”
The liver is said to be of the “wood element” and is crucial for the transformation of food into energy, or qi, according to Chinese medicine. Since it’s associated with wood qi, the liver is characterized by “upward momentum and the innate desire to be straight.” A healthy liver results in better blood flow upward and outward, throughout our vessels, veins and capillaries, which transport oxygen and nutrients to our cells.
What can improved liver function do for your health? A well taken care of liver can help bring you:
- • Increased energy levels
- • Clearer skin
- • More regular menstrual cycle with reduced PMS
- • Freedom from sinus pain
- • Fewer infections and stronger immunity
- • Less digestive complaints and more regularity
- • Fresher breath and oral health
- • A positive mood and sharper mind
Liver Anatomy and Structure
Where is the liver located in the body? An adult human liver weighs in just over three pounds and sits in the upper right side of the abdomen, underneath the rib cage, where it’s connected to the gallbladder. The gallbladder is where bile is stored, which is also very important for digestion. The liver takes up the space below the diaphragm and most of the space under the ribs.
There are two large sections/lobes that make up the liver. Within the liver, there’s a specific type of tissue that is made of lobules, which transport blood and cells.
The liver has two main veins, one that delivers blood from the gastrointestinal tract and the other that supplies blood from the heart. The liver connects to other digestive organs via a system of tubes that collect bile, digest foods, and drain waste.
Liver Function
What is the liver’s function? The main functions of the liver include:
- • Filtering blood coming from the digestive tract … It’s involved in storing blood, making blood clotting possible and breaking down damaged blood cells so they can be eliminated.
- • Producing bile
- • Dissecting and converting nutrients available in foods once they reach the digestive system … For example, the liver helps metabolize proteins by changing amino acids so they can be used for energy, or used to make carbohydrates or fats.
- • Helping to spread nutrients throughout the body via the bloodstream and keeping the amount of nutrients in the blood supply at optimal levels
- • Eliminating toxic waste that’s left behind once foods/substances are broken down
- • Breaking down and removing excess hormones
- • Storing certain vitamins and minerals for when they’re needed
- • Managing the conversion of fats from your diet and manufacturing triglycerides and cholesterol
- • Taking the carbohydrates you consume and turning them into glucose, a form of energy, to be stored for later use
The liver also interacts with other organs like the gallbladder, stomach and spleen, since it receives digested particles or toxins and decides what to do with them: circulate them around through the blood, or eliminate them before they can cause damage.
Liver Regeneration
Something that makes the liver unique and amazing is that it has the ability to regenerate after it’s become damaged; in fact, it’s capable of doing this more than any other organ in the body. Tissue that has become scarred or damaged can be replaced when healthy liver tissue grows and takes its place. This occurs with the help of growth factors, cytokines and matrix remodeling.
In extreme cases, even if only 25 percent of the liver remains, regeneration can still happen. When the liver becomes so badly scarred that healthy cells can no longer grow back, this results in liver failure.
When someone undergoes a living-donor transplant, a portion of a donor’s liver replaces the patient’s diseased liver and then regenerates as it grows back to full size.
Liver Disease Symptoms, Signs and Types
Liver disease and liver failure is the result of so much scar tissue forming that the liver can no longer function. There are many different forms of liver disease and damage. According to the American Liver Foundation, one out of every 10 Americans is affected by liver disease, making it one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States yearly. Globally, liver disease is a major cause of illness and death — especially viral hepatitis (predominantly hepatitis C and B viruses), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease.
Some of the most common types of liver diseases include:
- • Cirrhosis, which develops when scar tissue replaces the healthy cells in the liver. This can result in long-term damage to the liver that can lead to permanent scarring.
- • Alcoholic liver disease — when the liver becomes damaged by heavy drinking because it is the primary site of ethanol (alcohol) metabolism. Alcohol abuse can lead to steatosis (retention of fats), hepatitis and fibrosis/cirrhosis. Among problem drinkers, about 35 percent develop advanced liver disease.
- • Nonalcoholic fatty liver, when fat builds up in the liver. This type occurs more frequently with obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. NAFLD has become a leading cause of chronic liver disease in Western countries, with some estimates showing that it may impact about 16 percent or more of the general population in some way.
- • Hepatitis, usually caused by viruses like hepatitis B, A and C. Hepatitis can also be caused by heavy drinking, drugs, allergic reactions or obesity.
- • Liver cancer, including the most common type called hepatocellular carcinoma
- • Liver failure, which occurs when scarring becomes so severe that the liver cannot function anymore
- • Ascites, when the liver leaks fluid (ascites) into the belly
- • Bile duct infection (cholangitis)
- • Genetic disorders such as Wilson’s Disease, Gilbert’s Disease or Hemochromatosis, which occurs when iron deposits in the liver and throughout the body
- • Infections including Epstein Barr virus/mononucleosis, adenovirus, cytomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis
Not every person experiences symptoms of liver disease, especially in the early stages. As scarring of the liver and inflammation worsen, symptoms are more likely to become noticeable.
If you’re suffering from liver disease, you’re likely to experience at least some of these liver disease symptoms:
- • abdominal pain … Where do you get pain from the liver? Usually liver damage causes pain in the center or right upper part of the belly. If the liver becomes enlarged and swollen, it will also extend across the abdomen and also down toward the belly.
- • jaundice, or yellowing of the skin
- • fatigue/always feeling tired
- • nausea, vomiting, weight loss and loss of appetite
- • tenderness over the liver, or enlarging or shrinking of the liver (an inflamed liver in hepatitis may be tender and bigger, while a cirrhotic liver may be small and shrunken)
- • weakness
- • confusion and trouble concentrating
- • enlarged liver
- • bloating and gas
- • dark urine
- • bruising easily
- • excessive sweat
- • constipation
- • pale or dark tar-colored stool
- • dry and dark patches on neck and under arms
- • swelling in the legs and ankles
- • symptoms due to hormonal imbalances, such as high cholesterol levels, PMS, irregular periods, acne and mood swings
What are the early signs of liver problems?
The first signs of liver damage tend to be abdominal pain, digestive issues, loss of appetite and bloody stools. As liver damage and scarring progresses, symptoms can include edema, chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, changes in the skin and other issues.
Causes of Liver Damage
Because it has such widespread roles in the body, just about any form of metabolic, digestive, immune or hormonal disorder can impact liver health. In addition, your lifestyle can make or break the health of your liver.
Some of the major causes of damage to your liver can include:
- • Too much alcohol
- • Prescription medication or antibiotic use, including use of over-the-counter or prescription pain medications, statins and antibiotics like amoxiciilin-clavulinic, nitrofurantoin or tetracycline
- • Unprotected sex that spreads viruses/infections
- • High stress levels and hormonal imbalances
- • Air pollution and environmental toxin exposure
- • Autoimmune or inherited liver disease
- • Exposure to chemically sprayed crops
- • Using chemical household and beauty products
- • Obesity, such as due to eating many packaged foods that contain refined oils and high amounts of sugar
There are a number of risk factors that increase your chances of developing liver problems, some of which are:
- • Gastric bypass surgery
- • High cholesterol
- • High levels of triglycerides in the blood
- • Type 2 diabetes
- • Metabolic syndrome and obesity
- • Autoimmune disease
- • Sleep apnea
- • Polycystic ovary syndrome
- • Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
- • Underactive pituitary gland (hypopituitarism)
- • Being a man, especially over the age of 65 … Aging is a major risk factor for most chronic diseases, including liver disease. In general, men are twice as likely to die from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis than are women.
Why is your liver so vulnerable to damage and the effects of a harmful diet or high toxin exposure? The liver is somewhat like the body’s digestive control center. When substances reach the liver, they’re processed and either circulated, stored, altered, detoxified or flushed away through urine and stool.
Can liver disease be prevented? In most cases, yes. You can lower your risk for liver disease greatly by only consuming alcohol in moderation, avoiding drug use, practicing safe sex, managing stress levels, eating an organic, whole-food diet and maintaining a healthy weight to prevent metabolic problems.
Conventional Treatment of Liver Disease
Which types of doctors treat liver disease? Depending on the condition being treated, a patient might work with a gastroenterologist, hepatologist (a liver specialist), interventional radiologist, surgeon, infectious disease specialist and/or oncologist.
What are liver function blood tests that doctors use to make a diagnosis? If your doctor suspects you have a problem with your liver function, they may choose to do a physical exam and run a number of different tests, including: blood tests to check levels of liver enzymes, a complete blood cell count (CBC), hepatitis virus screen, blood clotting tests, tests to check levels of bilirubin, albumin and ammonia, ultrasound and CT scan.
Blood tests can reveal if the liver is inflamed and not properly making proteins, which are needed for blood clotting. A physical exam, ultrasound and CT scan are also performed to assess the anatomy and structure of the liver and surrounding tissues, in order to check for shrinking, swelling, edema, etc.
What is a liver biopsy? Is it painful? A liver biopsy is done to check for liver problems that can’t always be detected from other blood or imaging tests, and to determine the severity of damage. A liver biopsy involves inserting a thin needle into the liver to retrieve a small bit of tissue that is examined under a microscope. The procedure is usually done with use of a local anesthetic so it’s not very painful. Pain after a liver biopsy is usually only mild and goes away within a week or so.
Once liver disease is diagnosed, treatment options include:
- • Abstaining from alcohol, quitting smoking and avoiding any unnecessary or recreational drugs
- • Stopping use of medications or lowering the dose.
- • Eating less unhealthy foods, losing weight (if needed) and managing metabolic risk factors
- • Hepatitis B treatment with antiviral medications
- • Liver cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation
- • Removal of fluid from the abdomen using an inserted needle
- • Intravenous (IV) fluids to maintain blood pressure
- • Medications such as laxatives or enemas
- • Surgical resection of the liver
- • Liver transplant if the liver is no longer functioning … In 2017, more than 8,000 people in the U.S. received liver transplants.