The Black Informant

I found the following article to be very informative concerning the liver. There are several parts to this particular series, but today I will just focus on just two of them. The first excerpt will just give you an overview of the various functions of the liver:

The liver is the most important organ after the heart. It performs hundreds of functions including:

1. Circulation: transfer of blood from portal to systemic circulation, activity of the liver’s reticulo-endothelial system (kupffer cells) in the immune system. The liver stores and regulates the blood and is responsible for nourishing every cell in our body. Every part of the body depends on blood from the liver for nourishment and sustenance.

2. Excretion: formation and secretion of bile for digestion and cleansing of blood; removal of ammonia from blood; excretion of substances filtered from the blood by the liver such as heavy metals or dyes.

3. Metabolism: carbohydrate, protein, lipid (fat), mineral and vitamin metabolism; manufacturing and storage of many nutrients such as glucose and vitamins; production of heat through metabolism.

4. Protection and detoxification: removal of foreign bodies from the blood (phagocytosis); detoxification by conjugation, methylation, oxidation and reduction.

5. Production; formation of urea, serum albumin, glycogen and blood coagulating proteins such as prothrombin, fibrinogen and heparin; erythrocyte (red blood cells) destruction.

6. Regulation of hormones: inactivation and elimination of hormones through the bile or urine. Since estrogen and androgen are both growth hormones which stimulate cell division, elevation of their levels in the blood due to the liver’s failure to remove them efficiently can cause their accumulation in tissue. This in turn may lead to abnormal growths such as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, breast cysts and breast cancer, prostate enlargement or prostate cancer. Excessive estrogen is also the most common cause of painful menstruations.

(When you get the time, please click here to read the rest of this article [highly recommended!!])

Now this excerpt deals with some specific liver-related problems that can be resolved through natural medicine:

I have suffered from allergies throughout my life. Starting at a very young age, hives and allergies to dust were constant problems. I had sinus problems in my mid-twenties and hay fever both in the fall and spring. I tried allergy shots for many years. They helped but I still had problems breathing during the hay fever season. When my liver became healthy in 1989, all of my allergy problems went away. As we all know, allergy and auto-immune problems (eg, arthritis) are caused by over-active immune systems. They are over-active because they are weak. Our body’s natural reaction to weak organs is to make them work harder in order to compensate for the weakness. (…more)

Here are the other topics this piece covers briefly:

Thyroid disease and liver health

Hypertension, cholesterol, and high blood pressure

…all related to the liver!!!