It's not you, it's your poor liver
Liver care Part 1
Have you ever had ongoing, overwhelming fatigue? Persistent breakouts? Headaches? Digestive issues? Morning nausea? Poor sleep? Feeling like a hormonal wreck? No one is immune to dietary and environmental toxins, which can quickly overburden the liver with flow-on effects to just about every body system.
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg recently died at age 39 from complications after a liver transplant. The saddest thing about the reported story was that she died alone in her apartment. The circumstances around this are vague but shows that you can’t live for very long without a properly functioning liver.
I remember first feeling the effects of a sluggish liver at 17. I wore myself out through overtraining over a period of 6-months which quickly lay down the foundations for a glandular fever infection that affected mood, gut, energy and resilience that persisted long after the infection had resolved.
The liver link finally became clear after years of researching, learning and buying expensive supplements to improve gut health. You can’t fix a microbiome that is continually being fed a slew of toxins from the liver.
The first step to better health is to halt the onslaught of these toxins. Many things that are hepatotoxic are typically considered healthy or harmless. To regenerate the liver and improve your microbiome, you need to stop the toxic inputs. Cease or minimise the following:
Fragrances, synthetic and “natural”. This includes essential oils and incense! Fragrances can be found in anything ranging from perfumes to cleaning products.
Saturated fats, particularly dairy and coconut products.
Chocolate, including cocoa and cacao powder. Cacao is naturally high in copper and often high in heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
Vitamin A. All vitamin A inputs (dermal, dietary and pharmaceutical) convert to retinoids in the body that damage liver and other organs. Avoid liver or cod liver oil at all costs. Other sources are sweet potato, carrot and any fruit or vegetable that is red, orange or yellow in colour. Avoid retinol serums and Roaccutane.
Copper. It is antagonistic to zinc, and zinc deficiency is often suspected in individuals with liver issues, acne, coeliac disease, and any other gut issues. Consider your intake of seafood, sweet potato, nuts and seeds, salmon and dark chocolate.
Herbicide/ pesticide-contaminated food. Try and go as organic as possible with your fresh produce. Eating by the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen can make organic food more financially accessible. Pesticide-contaminated food depletes the nutrients required for detoxification pathways and can detrimentally affect digestion and microbiome.
Alcohol.
Paracetamol. Take this only if you really, really need it for comfort in illness. A couple of doses will be ok. Repetitive doses will deplete glutathione (antioxidant). Please note: kids don’t understand the nuances of pain and will often require paracetamol for comfort. Don’t delay paracetamol in kids where you feel it is required (pain, fever).
Anger and frustration. In TCM, anger is stored in the liver, so try to reduce stress where you can and channel anger or frustration in healthy ways.
This is part one of a three-part series in improving liver function. Want to know get in touch? Book an appointment with me here or email me at tia@themagicbean.com.au