It may seem far-fetched to hear that your liver might need some attention if you suffer with hayfever or food intolerances. Ever wondered why?
One of the main tasks of the liver is blood cleansing – it filters everything we encounter. At times, due to increase of waste, exposure to toxins, or a lack of certain nutrients, the liver may not detoxify as well. When the liver cannot effectively clean up the antibodies or chemicals from circulation as well, an immune response can be created, leading to rashes because of the release of histamine. If the liver isn’t functioning optimally, the clean-up of histamine in the blood takes longer than usual. In the meantime, allergy symptoms ensue.
What does the liver do?
As well as cleansing the blood, filtering waste, and many other things, the liver helps us to:
- Metabolise and break down fats. Bile is produced by the liver and is released into our digestive system to help emulsify fats.
- Detoxify alcohol, drugs, and toxins. So that our body can eliminate waste, the liver neutralises these toxins.
- Stores vitamins and minerals. B12 and iron are just two of the nutrients stored in the liver.
- Stores glucose. It also makes the glucose available to the body when it needs it.
- Breaks down hormones
Cleansing and detox
Coming into Spring is a great time to consider cleaning up the diet and giving the liver and digestive organs a bit more support, before pollen season and the end of the year are upon us. The human body is born to detoxify – it is a natural process, occurring all the time, however supporting our elimination organs is a key factor to good health.
Simple ways to improve the health of the liver
- Reduce alcohol. Alcohol is damaging to the liver. Checking in with the NZ alcohol guidelines is a good idea.
- Manage weight and exercise regularly
- Eat a diet filled with vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, nuts, fresh fruit, legumes, and water
- Reduce cigarettes, recreational drugs, and exposure to chemicals in your environment
- Dry skin brushing
- Eat organically where possible