Do you know that your liver is the hardest working organ in your body? Just to keep you alive it performs thousands of functions every second of every day non-stop. Everything you eat and drink passes through your liver. It’s the second largest organ in the body and you’ll find it under your rib cage on the right side. The first largest organ is your skin.
For one, your liver is responsible for detoxing and filtering chemicals and drugs from your blood, also for destroying unhealthy cells and bacteria. It regulates your hormones and blood sugar levels, it also manufactures essential proteins necessary for your immune system to prevent infection, and last but not least it generates the energy and the warmth to keep you alive. So you see a healthy liver is very important for your total well being.
You can keep your liver happy by eating a healthy and balanced diet free of fatty foods. Eat lots of vegetables and lots of fruits. Specially, sulfur-rich foods such as onions, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, beetroot and artichoke, as they help to detox your body. The spices turmeric and cinnamon are also known to support healthy liver function. Eat lots of apples they contain pectin to help get rid of mercury and heavy metals out of the body. Eat as little fried foods as possible, as little sugar as possible and if you like eating chocolate then stick to dark chocolate. Drink a lot of fresh water, freshly squeezed lemon in hot water first thing in the morning, and alcohol only in moderation. Regular exercise is also very important for a healthy liver.
An unhealthy liver can make you feel tired and sluggish, give you a foggy head, a bloated belly and will put you in a bad mood. If you feel pain on the right side just under your ribcage then have it checked, it could be your liver in distress. Better earlier than later. Other signs of advanced complications of the liver are chronic fatigue, muscle aches, forgetfulness and sluggishness. Don’t wait too long, if you suffer from mental confusion, fluid build up in the abdomen, spontaneous bleeding, prolonged itching of the skin and very dark urine then it’s definitely time to see your doctor to have yourself checked.
What is definitely toxic for your liver is fast food, excess of alcohol, too much salt, artificial sweeteners and MSG Mono sodium Glutamate which is considered to be a serious public health problem.
Without the liver you can’t live!
Some people suffer for far too long in silence. My daughter was one of those, she doesn’t like to make a fuss, to be a burden or draw attention to her self, so she suffered in silence for far too long until she couldn’t bear it any longer. When the pain became unbearable she finally admitted to herself something must be wrong and she decided to visit the doctor to have a check up. The diagnosis was liver cancer stage 4! That was when she finally let me know what she had been going through for so many months. Of course she had to have it operated on, not only once but twice within three months. It’s not a good idea at all to be modest when you suffer or to ignore pain and it’s unpardonable to keep silent and not share your problem with close family members. You’re not doing yourself nor them any favors.
We are thankful that my daughter’s story has a happy ending. Amazingly we learned that the liver is the only organ in the body that can regrow and regenerate itself even after cutting off about 50%.
