Liver Loving: The root of vitality, energy, & hormonal balance
Who doesn’t need high-quality energy, vitality, radiance, and balanced hormones? It might surprise you to hear that one of the roots of excellent physical, mental, and emotional health is the liver/gallbladder. A healthy, high-functioning liver and gallbladder is vital for hormonal balance as well as balanced moods, healthy eyes, and clear, radiant skin.
Through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the liver meridian governs anger and resentment. A person with repressed anger can, over time, develop issues associated with the liver. Similarly, a person who has a congested, over-burdened liver may be quick to anger and/or resentful. A person with an optimally functioning liver is more likely to express anger in an assertive, but healthy and constructive way.
According to TCM, the liver is associated with the wood element. The wood element is all about planning, decision-making, and a solid vision for the future. When the liver is healthy, we can more easily see new ways of doing things. We can grow and expand. We can more readily tap into our innate wisdom.
The liver/gallbladder works tirelessly to excrete fatty substances that the body doesn’t need, including old hormones, pesticides, and stored body fat. After our skin, the liver is the second largest organ. Its main job in life is detoxification. Our livers are packed with billions of liver cells. When we consume too many “toxic” substances like alcohol, refined sugar, processed foods in general, trans fats (toxic fats found in highly processed foods), pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, and so on, our liver cells can start to die. For a time, the liver can regenerate new cells to replace the cells that have died, but eventually the liver can’t keep up. At this point, a globule of fat can take up the space that once housed that fat-burning, detoxifying healthy cell.
If we don’t take action to reverse the course we can end up with fatty liver. Fatty liver doesn’t discriminate based on age. Even children are developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at unprecedented rates. These children and teens have livers that look just as battered as those of an alcoholic. The difference is, their livers have been damaged by too much processed foods and refined sugar rather than alcohol.
When we have fatty liver, our overall health and vitality suffers. Because fatty liver can lead to poor thyroid function, imbalances in our sex hormones, congested skin, whack cholesterol levels, and blood glucose imbalances.
Detoxification and proper elimination are vital because when they’re compromised every process that creates optimal health will be affected. This is especially crucial for our sex hormone balance, whether we burn body fat or store it, and the prevention of every major chronic disease including cancer.
Detoxification is an ongoing process of transformation. Any and every harmful substance that enters the body-mind must be changed into a less harmful form so that it can then be safely excreted from the body, this includes old sex hormones. In order to feel and look our best, we need this process to be optimal and high-functioning.
So the liver has a lengthy “to-do” list, it’s a really hard worker. Think about those days when your own to-do list is extra long. it can be hard to prioritize which task should come first. Sometimes, the really important stuff can get lost in the mix. It’s not so different for our livers. The more liver-loaders we put on the liver’s to-do list, the more work and prioritizing the liver has to do. And the liver is always going to prioritize things that it perceives as toxic, like alcohol, refined sugar, or trans fats. We want to shorten our liver’s to-do list so that it can check off each task easily and efficiently. This looks like choosing water or herbal tea over booze, choosing complex carbohydrates over refined sugar/processed carbs, choosing healing fats over processed, toxic fats.
Choosing things that the liver actually knows what to do with.
There are two main stages of the detoxification process called Phase 1 and Phase 2 liver detoxification. Both phases need specific nutrients to function. Our dietary choices influence how efficiently each phase functions.
Phase 1 nutrient requirements:
B-vitamins
Glutathione
Antioxidants like the herb milk thistle, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Carotenoids (found in red, orange, yellow fruits and veggies, and dark leafy greens)
Phase 2 nutrient requirements:
Sulphur
Selenium (two Brazil nuts a day are enough)
Amino acids like Taurine, Glycine, Cysteine, and Glutamine
Phase 1 Detoxification:
The nutrients we get from fresh, real, whole foods including the B-Vitamins are vital for high-functioning detoxification. We can get B-Vitamins from grains, which are one of the best sources. Some people, myself included, don’t do great with a lot of grains in their diet. If grains sit well with you, you can digest them well, and they make you feel good rather than bloated and anxious, wonderful! Please consider choosing whole food, preferably organic sources. You can also try soaking them to make them more digestible. I certainly wouldn’t be doing “overnight oat bowls” which are cold and heavy, over time they can weaken digestion.
If grains don’t work for you, please consider a high-quality supplement. I take one 4-5 times a week. We need them for great liver health/hormonal balance and our overall health.
Phase 2 Detoxification:
For Phase 2 liver pathways we need to make sure we’re getting certain amino acids and sulfur. We get all of our amino acids from foods that contain protein. Our bodies break protein down into amino acids which then go on to create all of the cells that make up your immune system, they create the neurotransmitters in our brains that impact our moods and clarity of thought. And of course they build up our muscles.
We also need sulphur, which can be found in garlic, onions, shallots, eggs, the Brassica genus of veggies which include broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. The liver produces enzymes that are responsible for the transformation of every substance that we consume. The speed at which these enzymes are created determine how quickly those substances will be processed. The load placed on the liver also determines how quickly things move through the liver.
This whole process does impact how we feel and how we look.
Liver Loaders: Things to avoid or minimize
Alcohol
Caffeine
Trans fats (toxic fats found in processed foods)
Refined sugars
Synthetic substances like pesticides, medications, un-natural beauty & personal care products
Infections
Synthetic, manmade chemicals can mimic estrogen. They bind to estrogen receptors, including in the bodies of boys and men, which can lead to hormonal imbalances, estrogen dominance, uncomfortable symptoms and even full-blown chronic disease. Some of these chemicals, like pesticides and herbicides, can become stored in the fatty tissues of our bodies.
Our planet is heavily polluted with man-made, synthetic chemicals. They’re literally everywhere. I can’t control what happens when I walk out my front door, but I can control what I put into and onto my body at home. I choose homecooking 99% of the time because I like to have that quality control.
I use organic cotton towels, sheets, and most of my clothing is made from organic cotton. I don’t do synthetic textiles.
I’ve been using botanical beauty and personal care products for over thirty years because they’re beautiful, effective, and safe for my body-mind and wildlife.
We use natural household cleaning products like dish soap, laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleanser. All natural everything. Again, they’re safer for me and my family, and they’re also safer for wildlife. I try to remember that everything that gets manufactured and then used in my home will end up in our environment, they will impact wildlife. For example, every body of water tested in the United States, tests positive for residual pharmaceutical drugs, which is impacting the health of wildlife.
Our livers are also responsible for detoxing the substances naturally made within our bodies. Cholesterol, sex hormones like estrogen, need to be cleaned up and cleared out of our bodies. If that estrogen isn’t being cleared out properly, a toxic version of it will get dumped back into our blood streams, which can lead to estrogen dominance and all kinds of health issues.
If you’re suffering from IBS or constipation, and/or you’ve got symptoms during your menstrual cycle, then your liver needs some loving. Passing blood clots during menstruation is a classic symptom of liver congestion. So are many skin conditions.
Some other symptoms associated with a liver imbalance:
Bad temper or short fuse
Feelings of intense anger
Impatience
PMS
Cellulite
Congested skin/breakouts
“Floaters” in your vision
Waking wound 2am
Poor sleep after consuming alcohol
Waking up hot during the night
Not hungry for breakfast
Preference for coffee instead of food to begin the day
Elevated cholesterol
Estrogen-dominance symptoms
Bloating easily
Daily alcohol consumption
Daily long-term caffeine consumption
***It’s often said that green tea is a better choice than coffee, but through the lens of TCM and Ayurveda, this can depend on a person’s individual bio-individuality/constitution. For example, a Kapha (Earth element/cool nature) person may do fine on coffee though they may want to drink it black as cream can increase Kapha. A Vata (Wind element/cool nature) person may do fine on decaffeinated coffee with some cream added, the heaviness of cream can balance out the “lightness” of Vata. A Pitta (Fire element/warm nature) person may do better with green tea as it’s more cooling in nature (even hot green tea has a cooling quality in the body), while coffee is heating in nature.) If you’re predominantly Pitta and just can’t give up the coffee, consider putting a pinch of cardamom in your cuppa, it can help cool things down. What we can all do is choose to avoid caffeine on an empty stomach. Drink it with food or after you eat.
Whatever symptoms or diagnoses you have around the health of your reproductive system, one thing’s for sure, focusing on the health of your liver/gallbladder is essential. In fact, the health of our livers is vital for any and every aspect of our health and happiness. If you start now, you can also ensure a smooth transition into menopause. Remember, PMS isn’t “natural” or “normal” even though it’s become the “norm”. Same with menopause, it’s not meant to be an uncomfortable, painful transition. It’s meant to be a beautiful transition into the next chapter of our lives. We can choose how that chapter’s written.