Your liver is a powerhouse of activity.
It’s the biggest internal organ in your body and has hundreds of functions. One key role is acting as the gatekeeper for your entire system, filtering all toxins and foreign substances from the bloodstream, breaking them down, and excreting them.
Some of the toxic substances that your liver has to contend with are produced right within your body! These include excess hormones and neurotransmitters. Other substances come from your environment ~ what you eat, what you breathe and even what you put on your skin.
There are both voluntary and involuntary invaders that the liver encounters. It’s working overtime, all the time, every second of every day, without much gratitude or payback.
Hey, your liver deserves a break today!
Here are some of the many jobs it performs everyday, many of which can be easily compromised without massive symptoms, pain or changes in blood results.
Carbohydrates divide into glucose in the digestive tract. Those glucose molecules move into your bloodstream where they’re used as your body’s primary source of energy. All blood then moves to the liver for filtration. Any excess glucose, not used for immediate energy, is stored as glycogen in the liver .
Protein breakdown occurs in the stomach and the small intestine. The end products are amino acids and other byproducts that are converted into enzymes by the liver . These enzymes are responsible for the chemical transformation of the toxic byproducts that come from the breakdown of proteins and prepare them for elimination through the kidneys.
The breakdown of your dietary fat depends on the bile created by your liver and stored in your gallbladder. The liver manages fat levels in the blood all day long. Dietary cholesterol and triglycerides are absorbed into the bloodstream and processed by the liver for delivery to the cells.
Doing a spring tune-up is a great way to really get your body back on track and its an easy thing to do with some gentle supportive herbs and dietary changes. It stands to reason that at least once a year you need to pamper your liver. Love it. Give it some extra attention. Say thank you to your liver for all that it does for you!
