The overload of the liver, the great purifier of the organism, can lead to problems. Some signs may warn that something is wrong.
- What functions does the liver perform?
- First symptoms of diseased liver
- Diseases that can affect the liver
- How to take care of the liver at the first symptoms that it is sick
- The Role of Emotions in Liver Health
Even before a liver disorder can be detected by medical tests, various signs can alert to dysfunction or overload of this organ. Popular expressions such as “lazy liver” relate empirically but often accurately that a good functioning of the liver results in well-being.
It is advisable to pay attention to the first symptoms of a diseased liver.
WHAT FUNCTIONS DOES THE LIVER PERFORM?
The main functions of the liver can be summarized in three words: production, destruction and detoxification.
Liver cells, thanks to the enzymes they contain, perform numerous chemical processes and store vital substances; among them, carbohydrates, protides and lipids.
Thus, the liver absorbs glucose from the blood and stores it in concentrated form – glycogen – so that when many hours are spent without eating or intense physical exercise is performed and energy is required, hepatocytes reconvert glycogen into glucose so that it passes into the blood.
The liver is also involved in the production and storage of vitamins A, B, D, E and K. It also synthesizes substances involved in blood clotting.
The eliminatory function is carried out from the excretion, through bile, of waste derived from the destruction of red blood cells, or toxic substances made by the tissues themselves: this is the case of ammonia manufactured by intestinal bacteria, which the liver transforms into urea and the kidneys are responsible for eliminating.
The liver also breaks down toxic substances absorbed by the intestine: herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals present in food, or any other foreign substance, such as most medicines. The liver transforms them into water-soluble complexes so that they can be eliminated as harmless byproducts, by bile (and from there to the intestine and bowel movements) or blood (urinary excretion through the kidney).
Therefore, a correct production (choleretic action) and release (cholagogue action) of bile ensures good digestion and adequate detoxification.
FIRST SYMPTOMS OF DISEASED LIVER
If you spot these symptoms, you may suspect something is wrong with your liver. Only with an accurate diagnosis can it be confirmed whether these symptoms really correspond to a liver disorder. In any case, it is advisable to pay attention to this symptomatology:
- feeling generally unwell,
- bitter taste in the mouth,
- nausea
- lack of appetite,
- fatigue
- Dizziness
- intestinal disorders (flatulence, diarrhea or constipation),
- anal pruritus,
- tendency to hives,
- certain headaches or migraines.
Blood tests (which measure the concentration of transaminases or liver enzymes) or imaging (ultrasound, CT, or MRI) may be used to diagnose liver disorders.
DISEASES THAT CAN AFFECT THE LIVER
- Hepatitis – A, B or C – is not necessarily viral in origin. There are bacterial, medicated or toxic.
- They are considered acute when liver inflammation lasts less than six months, with symptoms such as malaise, nausea, vomiting, possible fever, joint pain, dark urine, discoloration of the stool or jaundice (yellowing of the skin and ocular conjunctiva).
- If they last longer than six months, hepatitis can become chronic (it happens in 75% of hepatitis C); They do not have to be accompanied by symptoms or significant damage (in severe cases, cirrhosis or liver failure), but they leave the liver in depleted conditions.
- Cholestasis: reduction or interruption of the flow of bile.
- “Fatty liver” (steatosis): accumulation of lipids in liver cells.
- Cirrhosis: the liver becomes fibrous and hard.
- Tumors (benign or cancerous).
- Gallstones are deposits that form in the gallbladder or bile ducts, mainly with solidified cholesterol. They can be expelled into the intestine or remain in the ducts without obstructing them; If there is obstruction, cramping pain appears.
To prevent them, we cannot forget that all drug abuse can be harmful to the liver, especially from the age of 60. A drug as widespread as paracetamol, taken at high doses and for a long time, can even cause hepatitis.
Excess alcoholic beverages can also harmfully affect: fatty liver (steatosis), inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) or scarring (cirrhosis). Alcohol is even more harmful in women, with less ability to metabolize it than men, especially when they are very young.
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE LIVER AT THE FIRST SYMPTOMS THAT IT IS SICK
To help the liver in its functions, let’s start with the diet.
The following recommendations should be followed:
- Do not abuse fats and avoid copious meals. Saturated fats of animal origin increase cholesterol (which favors gallstones) and promote fatty infiltration of the liver. Vegetable oils, such as olive oils, are desirable, if possible, virgins of first cold pressing.
- Eat plenty of fiber, since in addition to lowering cholesterol and relieving constipation (which makes the liver work more), it produces a choleretic effect (increases bile secretion).
- A diet rich in carbohydrates is convenient, preferring whole grain products to white flour, and honey and fructose to white sugar.
- The moderate vegetarian diet is optimal if there are liver problems.
- Eggs, preferably hard, can be taken if well tolerated. Although they are rich in cholesterol, their yolk contains lecithin, beneficial for its phospholipids – which improve lipid metabolism – and choline – which prevents the accumulation of fat in the liver.
- Of the dairy products the most convenient is yogurt. It provides predigested amino acids of high biological value, while reducing the production of toxic substances in the intestine that an altered liver cannot neutralize properly.
- Vegetables contain folates, potassium and other beneficial minerals. Especially sulfur, a great liver purifier, contained in onions (with detoxifying sulfur essential oil) and radishes (which fluidize bile).
- The fruit is always beneficial, especially as breakfast or dinner: apple, plum, cherry, strawberry, medlars …
- Avoid the habitual consumption of fried, frozen and precooked. Fresh products should be preferred, preferably organically grown, and steamed, boiled or grilled.
- It is advisable to reduce the intake of salt, as well as alcoholic beverages.
- It is important to drink enough water.
- Performing someday fasting or fruit-based (in particular, the cure of grapes) also helps to purify the liver.
MEDICINAL PLANTS TO HEAL THE LIVER
To prevent or treat liver disorders, phytotherapy uses plants that relieve the overload of the liver by helping it in its purification tasks or that favor its regeneration. Here are three of the most effective.
MILK THISTLE
It would seem a plant that seems to have arisen to help the liver. Research indicates that its components, particularly silymarin, have antioxidant properties (ten times more powerful than vitamin E), detoxifying and regenerating liver cells.
Patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis or fatty liver significantly improved their symptoms after taking the standardized milk thistle extract for two months. There seems to be no danger of toxicity even in longer treatments.
It is also used in case of poisoning by poisonous mushrooms or to prevent liver damage from taking certain medications, such as antiretrovirals in AIDS.
ARTICHOKE
Its active ingredients (organic acids, cynarin, cinnarizine…) create a synergy that helps regulate various liver functions, especially the formation of bile and detoxifying functions.
While it is true that the complete extract of the fresh plant is the most active presentation, you can take advantage of part of its properties by eating it regularly. The active components of the artichoke are found mainly in its leaves, but also in the flower heads that are eaten.
DANDELION
This plant decongests the liver and improves its functions, due to its qualities to produce and release bile.
You can take the fresh leaves in salad, or a decoction: boil 30 g of leaves or roots per liter of water 20 minutes and let it macerate 4 hours. You can drink a cup before meals.
As not only the liver is drained, but also other organs such as the kidney and intestines, it is a fairly complete organic clearance if it is followed several days (1-2 weeks).
THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN LIVER HEALTH
Just as the liver participates in the digestion of food, it also seems to do so in the “digestion” of certain emotions. A liver problem can also indicate that there are emotions that are difficult to digest, as if there were a “sour” or “acidic” remnant left in the psychic sphere.
Envy, greed, or quiet sorrows can affect you. But perhaps anger is the most damaging emotion. According to traditional Chinese medicine, anger steals energy from the liver when expressed outwards and makes it more prone to certain pathologies if it is kept inside.
Cultivating joie de vivre and harmony with the environment is a good way to support the liver.
This psychosomatic relationship, which begins to be considered by current medicine, was also taken into account by the ancient Greek medicine of the time of Hippocrates, which distinguished two “humors” related to the liver: the “yellow” bile, whose predominance gives rise to the bilious or “choleric” temperament, analogous to the pitta temperament of Ayurvedic medicine; and “black” bile, which favors the “melancholic” temperament.
Dr. John Diamond, one of the fathers of kinesiology, states that the liver meridian weakens with unhappiness and is strengthened by joy.
