Spring is a time of cleansing and renewal, of starting anew. Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it’s even the season of the liver, the organ of detoxification, explains integrative-medicine practitioner Elson Haas, MD, author to remain Healthy With the Seasons.
But why provide extra help for that liver in any season? Isn’t it doing its job without assistance? Unless we’ve been identified as having a specific liver problem, why make the effort?
Turns out there are plenty of reasons.
The liver is really a filter, explains functional-medicine practitioner Jill Carnahan, MD: It sifts out dangerous materials before they enter your bloodstream. But because the volume of hazardous substances within the environment is steadily increasing, the liver can become overwhelmed.
While the liver advantages of support year-round, harnessing that “spring-cleaning” energy could be especially valuable. “Daily habits could make or break liver health,” Carnahan says.
Understand Your Liver
The liver processes every substance that enters the body, including food, drugs (surgical anesthesia, over-the-counter pain-killer, discarded pharmaceuticals that show up in drinking water), diesel exhaust, and artificial chemicals like pesticides. And that’s not all.
“There are thousands of new chemicals introduced into the environment every year,” says functional-medicine practitioner Robert Rountree, MD. This toxic onslaught can outpace the liver’s ability to process it.
Alcohol has historically been considered the liver’s primary foe: Drink too much for too long and you risk alcoholic liver disease (ALD); inflammation and scarring from ALD can result in cirrhosis.
Chemical exposure can cause toxicant-associated fatty liver disease (TAFLD), damaging the liver in ways that’s similar to that of alcohol. Like its more severe cousin, toxicant-associated steatohepatitis, TAFLD often affects individuals who display none of the traditional risk factors for liver disease, for example heavy drinking or obesity.
Sugar is another trigger: Chronically elevated levels of insulin can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A teetotaler can develop NAFLD after a lifelong sugar habit. (For more on fatty liver disease, see “The Hidden Liver Crisis”.)
When the liver is overburdened or damaged, all of those other body suffers.
“We are detox machines,” says -Carnahan, however these mechanisms can break down from overwork. Studies have linked toxic-chemical exposure with negative changes to gut flora, mitochondrial function, genetic health, and hormones. When these get out of whack, it puts the body at higher risk for conditions like diabetes type 2, cancer, and neurological dysfunction.
Liver function can be compromised for some time before we notice, too. Rountree describes a vegetarian patient who was young, fit, and a fan of organic produce.
“She appeared to be doing everything right with her lifestyle,” he says, yet routine blood work showed liver inflammation. Rountree suspected the acetaminophen that she took daily for joint pain. She stopped taking it, started a milk-thistle supplement, and her blood work normalized.
Show Some Love
All of this might tempt you to try a liver detox, but experts agree that this is not enough — or necessarily safe.
“Most of the ‘cleansing’ protocols can be hard on the liver or gall-bladder,” says Rountree. “Plus, there isn't any real evidence that these protocols lower the body’s burden of the specific chemical. Any scientifically proven detox program should be focused on lowering the total toxic load in your body, either by enhancing the enzyme systems that transform toxins into a less harmful chemical or by gently accelerating their elimination.”
Instead of the targeted detox, he along with other experts recommend a holistic and routine method of liver health. The daily lifestyle and nutritional strategies that follow can support the liver — and reduce its workload.
Lifestyle
These behaviors will help protect your liver and support its function.
Because the liver serves as the body's protective filter, anything you can do to reduce toxic exposure and support overall detoxification will help it do its job more proficiently.
Attend to Your “Exposome”
The food you eat, the air you breathe, and then any toxins you encounter, along with the chemicals and hormones your body generates, make up your exposome. It plays a significant role in your long-term health, says Rountree.
And there are simple ways to clean it up. Use a quality water filter. Take shoes off indoors which means you don't track in pesticides. Routinely check your home for mold to safeguard air quality. Dust often: Airborne toxins can get caught in household dust and loiter on furniture, countertops, and flooring. Purchase an air purifier. If you have an environmentally friendly thumb, stock up on houseplants, which might help clean the air.
You can also avoid toxic exposure by utilizing safe DIY cleaning and body-care products, and by steering clear of synthetic scents. A vinegar-and-water mixture is terrific for many household chores – and it's cheap! (For more on cleaning up your home and body-care routine, see ELmag.com/greencleaning and ELmag.com/diybeauty.)
Stay Hydrated
The liver processes fat-soluble toxins in two phases. During phase 1, it transforms them into compounds that are easier for the body to get rid of. During phase 2, they're transformed again, this time into water-soluble substances that the body then excretes. Any activity that keeps water-soluble compounds moving with the body helps the liver remove toxins, and there is no better way to achieve this than drinking lots of clean, filtered water daily. Shoot for half your body weight in ounces every day to stay well-hydrated.
Balance Your Gut
The gut is among the earliest stops for whatever we ingest. The healthier it is, the lighter the burden it delivers towards the liver. A healthy gut sports a solid barrier and a diverse mixture of bacteria. But when these are compromised, hostile bacteria can run amok and produce toxins of their own that can even mimic alcohol
