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How to Naturally Strengthen the Liver and Avoid Deadly Liver Damage
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Next to your skin, your liver is the second largest organ in the body. Located in the upper right portion of your torso, it is directly under the rib bones. This organ is vital for life itself, making enzymes and bile, which digest fats and keeps the digestion process going and cleansing impurities from the body. Your liver is also responsible for regulating hormonal activity, and builds protein. Every single thing you put in your mouth must be processed by the liver before it can be used anywhere else in the body. When you think of it that way, you will quickly realize how the health of your body is directly related to how healthy your liver is.
Although your liver has the wonderful ability to repair and replace damaged cells, this is only true up to a point. Your liver can reach the point of no return, where so many cells have been damaged that the liver is unable to replace them in sufficient quantity. It is at this point that most people become aware of a problem, but it is too late. Nothing can be done after this except for a transplant, and even assuming that you are a qualified candidate, this is no easy task. It’s not as if you can go down and pick one up at the drugstore and do it yourself in the bathroom.
Problems with the liver generally occur gradually, over a period of many years. There is another type of liver failure, called acute liver failure, which is a rare condition that kills within about 48 hours and is almost impossible to detect.
The most common, and obvious, problem is excessive alcohol consumption over a long period of time. Other causes include:
- Exposure to dangerous chemicals
- A result of certain medications
- Viruses, including hepatitis
- Severe malnutrition
- Fatty liver (often caused by obesity)
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Inherited problems with copper and iron metabolism
- Overuse of medications, both recreational and prescription, including over consumption of acetaminophen (Tylenol)
- Smoking
- Excessive intake of vitamin A
- Chemotherapy drugs
- Poisonous mushrooms
In the early stages, the liver can become inflamed, but this can be corrected. If left uncorrected, the liver begins to develop scars. Even this is reversible if lifestyle changes are taken immediately.
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