It is important to first understand our liver

Our liver is the primary filter of our body. It is not possible to experience good health without proper function of the liver. Unfortunately, over time, we so misuse it that illness is the inevitable result. In order to rebuild and repair the liver, we must do the following 5 things:

1. Remove all the excess fat from the liver.
2. Get bile flowing freely again.
3. Eliminate toxic waste that our livers have filtered out.
4. Dissolve and pass out the accumulated gallstones that are stored in our livers.
5. Regenerate the damaged and destroyed cells of the liver.

Next to the skin, the liver is the largest organ in the body. In many ways, it is the most important organ in the body, and the last to be considered when it comes to health. In addition to being large, the liver is also a complicated organ involved in at least 200 separate functions. Generally speaking, the liver performs a vital role in regulating, synthesizing, storing, secreting, transforming, and breaking down many different substances in the body. Specifically, some of these include:

• Regulation of fat stores
• Cleansing the blood and discharging waste products
• Neutralizing and destroying poisons
• Protein metabolism, including manufacturing of new body proteins
• Metabolizing alcohol
• Managing chemicals and drugs in the blood
• Aiding the digestive process by the production of bile
• Helping the body resist infections by producing immune factors and by removing bacteria from the blood stream
• Storing vitamins, minerals, and sugars
• Production of quick energy when needed
• Controlling the production and excretion of cholesterol
• Maintaining hormone balance
• Regenerating its own damaged tissue

The liver is so important to our well-being that many healers maintain that most diseases cannot develop in the body (that, in fact, no form of cell degeneration can occur) if the liver is functioning in an efficient, healthy manner. Conversely, an unhealthy liver is very likely at the root of most serious health problems.

What Harms the Liver?

• Too much protein in the diet. Protein metabolism is especially taxing on the liver since it is the liver which must metabolize complex proteins into simple compounds. The greater the consumption of protein, the greater the stress on the liver.
•  Too many simple carbohydrates in the diet. The body converts excess simple carbohydrates into triglycerides, which are then stored in the liver as fat. The more fat stored in the liver, the harder it is for the liver to perform its full range of normal functions.
• Overeating. Too much enzyme deficient food stresses the liver.
• Drug residues. Virtually all of the drugs that we take (medicinal, recreational, chemotherapy, whatever) are processed, purified, and refined in the liver—in preparation for elimination from the body.
• Alcohol causes inflammation of the liver’s tissue. Once the liver is inflamed, it can no longer filter, which causes it to plug up with fat and become even more inflamed. If we consume enough alcohol, we overwhelm the liver’s ability to regenerate itself, and the net result is cirrhosis (or hardening) of the liver.
• Toxins, heavy metals, and pesticides. Everything we breathe, eat, and absorb through our skin is purified and refined in the liver.
• Lack of exercise forces the liver to do the elimination work that should be done by the lungs and the skin.
• And of course, there’s always liver disease such as chronic Hepatitis C.

What Are the Symptoms of Liver Dysfunction?

Digestive problems

Constipation

Low energy output

Allergies and hay fever

Arthritis

Diabetes

Hypertension

Obesity

Infertility

So What Can Be Done About It?

Fortunately, your liver has an tremendous ability to regenerate itself—if you give it a chance. Giving it a chance means two things:

1. In order to help your liver to heal itself what you eat is very important. A raw juice/food diet will help tremendously in the repair of your liver. You need to eliminate (or at least cut back) the liver stressors in your diet. The sicker you are, the more cleaned up your diet needs to be.
2. Several times a year, you need to do an herbal liver detox/flush. It is helpful to regularly include nutritional support for your liver also. (Milk Thistle, dandelion root, etc. should be important ingredients in your liver support.)