Liver Health

Liver – The Gatekeeper to Good Health

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Liver – The Gatekeeper to Good Health

Dec 23, 2021

Introduction

The liver is the heaviest organ in the body and the second largest organ after the skin. It is a complex factory that works 24 hours a day. One of its primary functions is to get rid of toxins out of the body. Every day, your liver helps the body by providing it with energy, fighting off infections, regulating hormones and many more.

If your liver stops working, so do you

Your liver health may not be top of mind, but the moment when your liver is overburdened, your entire body will suffer. Because of its wide-ranging responsibilities, the liver can come under attack by viruses, toxic substances, contaminants, and diseases. However, the liver is very slow to complain even when under attack. That’s why it is very common to be unaware of the symptoms until the liver disease has progressed to a later stage.

Symptoms of poor liver health can include excessive fatigue, yellow skin or eyes (jaundice), dark urine, pale stool, itchy skin, accumulation of fluid in the abdomen (ascites), and swelling legs or ankles. The leading causes of liver damage include intake of high fat and processed food, being obese, heavy alcohol use, high stress level, and hepatitis viruses1. Over time, this can result in permanent liver damage and increase the risk of liver diseases as well as cancer.

Take good care of your silent organ

A healthy liver is crucial for overall health and wellbeing. It is easy to keep your liver in good condition by gradually adapting to a healthy lifestyle. Here are the eight ways in how you can protect your liver:

Figure 1: Eight ways to protect your liver

Apart from that, you could also pair it with a natural alternative to support liver health. Milk thistle, or silybum marianum, is a natural herb that is scientifically proven to support good liver health. The active substance in milk thistle is silymarin, which is a complex mixture of flavonoids. Among the flavonoids, silybin is the most potent antioxidant and has liver protective properties2. Studies showed that silymarin may help with the regeneration of liver cells, decrease inflammation, and protect liver cells against oxidative stress damage3,4. Besides that, it also helps to excrete accumulated toxins in the body5. Hence, you can always look for a high strength milk thistle extract (standardized to 80% silybin) to help improve your liver condition.

Find out more about BiO-LiFE Livasil

References
  1. Badarudin N. Big deadly problem. NST Online. 2016. Available from: https://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/09/171178/big-deadly-problem
  2. Flora K, Hahn M, Rosen H, et al. 1998. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) for the therapy of liver disease. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 93: 139–143.
  3. Hackett ES, Twedt DC, and Gustafson DL. 2013. Milk Thistle and Its Derivative Compounds: A Review of Opportunities for Treatment of Liver Disease. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 27:10-16.
  4. Dixit N, Baboota S, Kohli K, Ahmad S, Ali J. Silymarin: A review of pharmacological aspects and bioavailability enhancement approaches. Indian J Pharmacol. 2007;39(4):172-79.
  5. Loguercio C and Festi D. 2011. Silybin and the liver: From basic research to clinical practice. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 17(18): 2288-2301.
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