Somehow we have neglected Liver health for long. When we talk about vital organs, we think of heart or kidney and never the Liver. Liver detoxifies the entire blood and maintains sugar levels. When liver health is lost, toxins build up within the body and that damages other vital organs like heart and kidneys.
If we keep our Liver healthy, it will do its job of detoxing our body from the consequences of our poor diet and lifestyle. We shall discuss Liver health here with a set of commonly asked questions.
Why are so many vitamin and dietary supplements prescribed for PBC (liver disease) patients?
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) or Biliary Tract disease is considered an autoimmune disease.
PBC is a symptom of failure in the bile ducts. Bile ducts carries bile juice from the liver and Gallbladder through Pancreas to the small intestine.
Absence of digestive juices leads to non-absorption of fats and vitamins in the small intestine, specifically fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K. This causes severe vitamin deficiency in the body.
Many kinds of Multi-vitamins are prescribed to make up for the deficiencies, but due to PBC, most of the pill vitamins are still not absorbed into the blood stream and the deficiency worsens.
The best way to manage PBC is using a 3-pronged approach with powerful nutrients 1. Increase Appetite 2. Stimulate the Liver and 3. Use wholesome diet like milk. This should be done after assessment of their Body Type, complications, nutritional state, and dietary intake.
How can over consumption of supplements and medication causes Liver damage?
Abuse of a few Antibiotics, over-the-counter drugs (OTC), Bodybuilding supplements, and some weight loss supplements containing Usnic acid have the potential to cause Liver injury.
When the Liver breaks down the chemicals and additives in these products for a long time, they create by-products which trigger inflammation of liver leading to Toxic Hepatitis.
Best way is to avoid taking long term medications and focus on treating common lifestyle disorders from the source using non-drug interventions,as your first line of treatment.
For inflamed Liver, it is proven that Phytonutrients such as Curcumin, taken in the right dosage will improve Hepatic steatosis, Oxidative stress and Gut Dysbiosis. Thereby curing the Liver of Toxic Hepatitis.
How to maintain Protein levels In spite of suffering from Liver Diseases.
The Liver plays a very important role in the metabolism of proteins and is responsible for synthesis of most plasma proteins. Albumin, the major plasma protein, is synthesized almost exclusively by the Liver.
When Liver doesn’t function to its full potential, then Protein metabolism gets disturbed. Liver is not able to fully metabolise hard proteins, which leads to Protein Deficiency and clinically apparent muscle wasting, manifest as a protein-calorie malnutrition due to low levels of Hepatically (Liver) synthesized Plasma proteins.
An effective line of treatment involves taking certain Vegetable based proteins, because they are easily digestible and are rich in Arginine. Arginine, an amino acid increases the Urea production which decreases the toxic blood ammonia levels to normal and increases the bulk of stool.
How dangerous is non-alcoholic fatty liver?
Fatty liver occurs as a result of increase in fat deposit on the Hepatocytes and reduction of fat metabolism. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFL) disease is a manifestation of excessive triglyceride accumulation in the liver. This damage when unchecked progresses to Liver Fibrosis and Cirrhosis, and the condition becomes irreversible.
Irregular digestive fire, fatigue, nausea, belching, vomiting, itching, burning abdomen, burning chest, abdominal pain, heaviness , flatulence, Diarrhoea and constipation are all symptoms of fatty liver.
There is no established treatment for NAFL in conventional medical science.
However, there is an effective NutriTherapy. Anti-fibrotic Phytonutrients that are rich in polyphenols and flavonoids will decrease the level of circulating lipids and also prevent hepatic accumulation of lipids, by balancing the fat metabolism.
What is the cure for Liver Fibrosis?
When there is an increased and altered deposition of extracellular matrix in the liver, it’s called as Liver Fibrosis. If it is not prevented or reversed then it could progress to liver Cirrhosis and there is no cure for it.
When healthy liver tissues are replaced with Scar tissues, liver functions are stressed leading to increased gastric sensitivity, delayed Gastric emptying, bowel transit time and poor nutrition in patients.Vata and Pitta Body types are more prone to Liver disorders.
AntiFibroticNutriTherapy:The best way to prevent the deposition of extracellular matrix in the liver is to cleanse the liver and slow down the build-up of scar tissue. This can be achieved with Liver friendly Phytonutrients.
Let us give our Liver its due importance and pledge not to abuse it with binge drinking or over the counter medications.
