Why Your Liver Needs Some Nurture

Today I want to invite you onto a little journey of understanding WHY you should care so much about supporting your liver and gallbladder function. 

The liver is such a complex, fascinating and important organ that's absolutely vital to supporting overall well-being. 

There is so much that the liver does that I picked a few topics that strongly affect overall well-being and balance.  

👜 Hormone Clearance 

All hormones can and should be able to be cleared by the liver when it's functioning optimally. When there are issues with the liver and gallbladder, negative symptoms  particularly from sex hormone imbalances and excess cortisol can arise, as these hormones build up in the system beyond what is ideal. 

Liver cells also secrete sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), vital to providing hormonal balance. When there is reduced function in the liver through things like congestion, oxidative stress or inflammation, SHBG can either be under or over secreted, leading in some cases to lower than optimal hormonal levels, or higher than optimal hormonal levels.

Unpleasant symptoms from hormone imbalance strongly impact mood, anxiety levels, energy, skin quality, sleep, concentration, drive, body composition, libido, menses and fertility. 

🕺🏻Thyroid Hormone Conversion

Thyroid function is a popular topic these days. While there are many facets to healthy thyroid production and function, the liver plays a fundamental role in thyroid health. 

The liver removes an iodine molecule from T4 to convert it to active T3. A congested, burdened liver can struggle with this important task.

Additionally, the liver also reverses an inactive form of reverse T3, which also relies on healthy gut microflora to aid in this process.

Some symptoms of low thyroid can include fatigue, feeling cold, weight gain, swollen face, coarse skin and dry hair. 

🪢 Toxic Load

When the liver is over-burdened, damaged or congested, toxins, antigens and immune complexes may enter the blood stream.

The entrance of these toxins into general circulation can then lead to increased stress on other organs, reduction in cellular function, impacting mitochondrial health, increasing inflammation and activating chronic immune and cortisol responses.

A well nurtured liver effectively detoxifies these noxious substances from the body allowing our blood to do its job of nourishing us, not poisoning us. 

🐣 Assimilation of fats 

Bile is secreted into the small intestine to emulsify fats, breaking them down into digestible parts which are then assimilated and taken into the body through the lymph. 

When bile is overly toxic, it becomes sludgy and inefficient. This has a powerful trickle down effect which negatively impacts multiple bodily systems. 

Some simple symptoms include poor digestion, bloating, gas, motility issues and stomach pain. 

Additionally, fats are crucial to maintaining healthy function overall, and are needed to create both hormones and bile itself!                 

 💚 Liver On

The good news is that supporting the liver and gallbladder is actually not that complex considering the many functions it performs!

Robust nutrition that includes the support of superfoods and botanicals provides a solid foundation for nurturing the liver and gall bladder. 

And because the liver is such an impactful organ, tending to the liver and gallbladder has a powerful domino effect on really up-levelling other areas of your well-being, that you may not have even been aware were even so intricately connected. 

Next week I'll dive into expanding your understanding of what the liver does, and what it needs to support these functions!           

🦋 Nurture your Liver

In the meantime, if you're ready to get started on nurturing your liver, a simple and tasty way is by sipping on a roasted dandelion root tea! 

Dandelion root contains kynurenic acid, which stimulates bile production and flow. 

Because bile is where toxins are dumped, supporting bile is vital in encouraging overall liver detoxification and improving digestion. 

Another fantastic way to support your liver is with castor oil packs, which you can easily assemble yourself using both castor oil and this castor oil pack. It's great to do this while relaxing, reading a book or watching a show. 

Castor oil packs strongly support detoxification of the liver, improve liver circulation and help reduce inflammation.