The Beautiful Human Body. Part I - Liver

The series of the Beautiful Human Body starts with the most important organ, a Metabolism Star, the Liver

Liver

Liver is the metabolic power center of our bodies. It is a vital organ that keeps all our bodily systems running, 24 hours a day. It performs over 600 metabolic functions. Every nutrient, hormone, and chemical is activated for use, right here.

Listed are some of the key functions of the liver:

Carbohydrate metabolism

Breaks down the carbohydrates and converts it into immediate energy, stored energy (glycogen) or converts the excess to fat (Adipose)

Fat metabolism

Synthesizes cholesterol that is used for making bile, vitamin D, hormones

Creates bile, a very important solution that helps break down fats.

Synthesizes lipoproteins that help transport fatty substances like cholesterol, triglycerides and fatty acids to and from cells.

Hormones: Processes hormones created by other glands to make them “active” so they can go work for us.

Detoxification: We consume various toxins via foods, air, water, drugs, alcohol. The liver works hard to convert these to harmless products to be eliminated via bile or urine.

Processed or fried foods, environmental pollutants and stress, cause the liver to become taxed, so much so that it can’t process toxins and fat in an efficient way. its important in this day and age to nourish the liver with  foods that can help improve the metabolism and detoxification functions.

Foods that support the liver

Beets

Carrots

Cauliflower, Broccoli and its cruciferous cousins

Cabbage

Leafy greens

Avocados

Garlic

Lemons and Limes

Grains like quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat

Turmeric

Walnuts

Periodic Detox / Cleanses are a great way to give the liver a much needed break so it can work efficiently for you.

Tip

Start your day with a cup of warm water with fresh lemon juice to assist the liver in flushing out the toxins

Yoga Asanas to assist the liver

Twists

Cobra

Forward fold

Cat / Cow