Love your Liver

When our food passes from the stomach to the small intestine, it is absorbed into the blood stream complete with all the vitamins and minerals and other nutrients that we ingest.  But, before the nutrient rich blood can move around the body is has to make a stop at the liver.

The liver kicks into recycling mode, processing the good stuff into forms that the body can use and gets rid of garbage or anything unneeded.  The solid waste is carried by the bile back into the intestines and out of the body.  Some waste from the liver goes through the blood to the kidneys and is expelled through urine.

The liver has about 300 functions, but two other primary ones are producing bile and storing energy (glycogen).  Bile helps digest fat and absorb fat soluble vitamins.  Produced in liver and stored in the gallbladder, is an essential part of the digestive process.  If it gets too thick it can clog the gallbladder creating stones or rendering it ineffective.

Breaking down carbohydrates into a type of sugar called glucose, is another vital job of our liver.  Glucose is the main source of fuel for the cells.  Once broken down, it’s stored in the liver as glycogen ready and waiting to be used when blood sugar drops or quick energy is needed.

Certain foods support the liver, one food in particular: Beets.  This unassuming little root vegetable thins and flushes bile from the liver.  It’s also high in nitrates which become nitrous oxide and increases oxygen to the tissues and brain. Spring is a great time to add beets to your diet.

Understanding that you are what you eat is an important step to keeping yourself, and your liver, healthy.