Loving your liver, a major detoxification organ
Posted on Thu, Jan 26, 2012
Tracy Freeman MD
The liver is one of the most complex and important organs in your body.
It is responsible for:
- filtering toxins from your blood
- storing reserve energy in the form of glycogen
- conjugating and eliminating excess hormones
- producing bile to help the body digest fats
It is essential to keep the liver clean and healthy.
One of the top jobs of the liver to make bile, 1 to 1 1/2 quarts in a day! The liver is full of tubes (biliary tubules) that deliver the bile to one large tube, the common bile duct. The gall bladder is attached to the common bile duct and acts as a storage reservoir. Eating fat or protein triggers the gall bladder to squeeze itself empty after about twenty minutes (or after ingesting the liver cleanse solution) and the stored bile finishes its trip down the common bile duct to the small intestine and eventually to the colon (large intestine).
It is essential to keep this Detoxification pathway clean so that the body can both eliminate toxins and excrete sufficient bile for digestion. Common herbs can help such as milk thistle as well as liver cleanses. Avoiding stressors on the liver such as alcohol, excess fats and exogenous hormones also helps to keep the liver clean. Physician directed liver flushes are also a great asset when looking to improve liver health.
Love your liver and live a healthier life.
Tracy Freeman MD is a holistic medical physician at National Integrated Health Associates, NIHA, an integrative medicine and dental center serving Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Primary care with a holistic approach is for your optimum wellness, not just freedom from disease. Her areas of focus are Holistic Primary Care of adults and children, Autism, and Women's Health.
image via publications.nigms.nih.gov