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Health See other Health Articles Title: How to Love Your Liver CHN... Actual letter form a real Liver-hater: “I tried putting a bit of chopped up liver in with my ground beef bolognaise but I could still taste the creamy liver taste that makes me feel physically nauseous. I REALLY want to eat liver for all the nutrients and vitamin A but I physically can't do it…” I can relate to the author of this anonymous letter recently posted on a paleo website. I hate the stuff too! Nor are we alone. Although the Epicurean among us may delight in Liver’s velvety texture and creamy taste, kitchendaily.com found that its America’s most hated food. Even the slippery, slimy look of Liver can be enough to activate the gag reflex. So what exactly is it that accounts for widespread repulsion? Well, the Liver organ is an extreme organ, in fact it's the largest organ in the body. Among the hardest working in the body, its cells perform many of 100’s of biochemical roles like ridding the body of drugs and poisons. It purifies foods we eat, it creates and stores proteins, fats and sugars. It’s also a vitamin and mineral warehouse and is also a major center for hormone production (i.e. Estrogen, Testosterone, Cortisol and many other steroids are processed in Liver). In short, it's the body’s poison control center. What a biological powerhouse! All that work the Liver takes on, however, takes up energy and all of the energy necessary happens to require nutrition. The Liver utilizes a tremendous amount of nutrients, which it stores in copious quantities. The Liver is dense with the same minerals, vitamins and fats that are found in all foods, but at extremely high concentrations. As a food - It's like a multi-vitamin supplemental super-food! Unfortunately, all those nutrients found in a bite of pate or foie gras, contribute to a flavor overload which is perceived by many people, (including me) as dense, mineral-ey and generally unpleasant. The Liver (both organ and food) is also the home of many fragile substances including Glutathione and Sulfur compounds in addition to large quantities of fats. All of these substances tend to be metabolically and biochemically active and are easily destabilized. This instability can create oxidized (rancid) elements that just taste off to put it mildly. Even worse, the Liver stores fat soluble toxins which can add to its already unpleasant taste. As if the toxicity and unstable, oxidized by-products weren't bad enough, the Liver contains an odiferous element called “Bilirubin”, a brown biochemical that gives feces its characteristic color and fetor. Throughout history, humankind has thought there was something special about the Liver. The Babylonians attributed magical powers to Liver and used it for divinations. The Greeks of antiquity believed that the Liver was the center and the source of life and regarded it as one of the three major bodily centers along with the brain and the heart. The Roman physician Galen called it the “seat of the nutritive and vegetative faculties” essentially meaning it made everything else happen! Although modern scientists speak of the liver in less hyperbolic terms, it is still known to be a metabolic dynamo, but all that activity requires nutrition which is becoming harder and harder to come by as a result of depleted soils and abundant toxins in the food and water supply. To compound the problems of nutrient deficiency, our 21st century dietary lifestyle has created an overwhelmingly poisonous load for the liver (the body’s poison control center remember?) to have to cope with. Between toxicity from prescription drugs, alcohol, food additives, poorly digested proteins, excessive quantities of sugar and trans/hydrogenated fats, fragrances, preservatives AND widespread nutritional deficiencies it’s easy to see why Americans, en masse, have messed up livers in need of a lot of supplemental assistance. According to most researchers 100 million people have Liver disease. As a result of nutrient deficiency and overwhelming toxicity the liver just does not get things done. Over time deficiencies in micronutrients negatively affect how sugar, fat and protein are processed. Hormones aren’t any longer manufactured as efficiently under these circumstances. Eventually the overwhelming work-load forced on the Liver affects how poisons are detoxified. This causes an accumulation of toxicity which amplifies the problem creating a viscous cycle. The net effect is millions and millions of sick Livers and an epidemic of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) which is so common these days that it is now the new normal. The Bright Side is that the Liver is self-repairing and very resilient. It can remain functional even after losing most of its cells! It possesses the greatest regenerative capacity of any organ in the body with the ability to grow back within weeks if even just a small part of it remains intact - and no matter how progressed, Liver Disease can be halted and even reversed! The most important Liver health strategy is to reduce the amount of work this overburdened detoxifying organ has to undergo. Love your liver by giving it a break! Low blood levels of Oxygen can be stressful and can exacerbate Liver inflammation so practice slow,... deep breathing techniques. Food is an important consideration as well. The Liver processes everything we eat, so the less we put in our mouths the better off our Livers will be. Reducing sugar intake is very important (Diabetes and Liver Disease are inextricably linked). Fructose (fruit sugar) is especially hard on the Liver. Processed foods and alcohol should be avoided as well. Dietary supplements can be very helpful. Probiotics, Essential Fatty Acids and all the vitamins (especially Vitamin C) have important parts to play in proper Liver health. The amino acid NAC and the minerals Selenium and Zinc are particularly helpful too. For the herbally inclined, Milk Thistle is considered the most Liver-therapeutic of plant medicines and recently Curcumin, a primary component of curry powder, has been shown to be protective for NAFLD. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
I take Milk Thistle, curry, turmeric, C, D-3, Selenium and Zinc daily. I take 5 herbs daily that improved my echocardiogram score for hte heart actually pumping blood.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
I just order some Milk Thistle extract from Carotec in Naples, Florida. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Due to an inherited enzyme condition (from which both our mother and aunt died), my brother in now recovering from a liver transplant of two days ago. He never drank anything stronger than iced-tea in his sixty-eight years. A miraculous Christmas blessing for our entire family. “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Sounds really crazy to me, but things like this can be inherited. Any chance you might come down with the same thing? They do liver transplants quite frequently and a lot of other organs too. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
It's certainly a possibility for sure. Either way, I'm OK with it.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Beets/juice which is being touted commercially for nitric oxide content seems to have merit for heart function Germicidal soaps have been mentioned as having toxic effects on liver so good idea to always rinse soap off hands, etc.
Try Bilberry, Hawthoen Berry and Kyolic twice daily if you score low on an echocardiogram like I did. Milk Thistle is for the liver. My doctor was amazed at my improvement.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
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