Love your Liver

Your liver is the largest and most metabolically complex internal organ in your body, responsible for over 500 different functions, ranging from fighting off infections, neutralising toxins and controlling blood sugar. Given it’s critical role, it’s vital to love your liver and show it the respect that it deserves.
One of the coolest characteristics of liver (besides how it tastes in pate) is the way it can regenerate itself. With most organs, like your heart and skin, damaged tissue is replaced with scar. Your liver, however, is able to replace damaged tissue with new cells - an essential and very cool life hack. Alcohol however, messes up this regeneration process and as a result causes both inflammation and scarring of your liver, known as cirrhosis.
With half of our men & a third of our women drinking alcohol regularly, South Africans have a bit of a rep for being boozers. When you drink alcohol it’s your livers job to process the alcohol and detoxify your blood, and excessive drinking simply means you’re making your liver work overtime (without additional pay - what would the Unions say?!)
As much as we give alcohol a bad rap though (which is deserved), it isn’t the only factor giving our livers nightmares - so you can’t assume that all those with liver disease are alcoholics. In reality, the most prevalent chronic liver disease is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and like the name suggests (strangely enough), it’s the build-up of fat in your liver not associated with alcohol! Fatty deposits in your liver means less happily functioning liver cells, that over time results in cirrhosis and an inability to detox your body.
A question many ask, is if your liver acts as your body’s primary detoxification system, surely it needs a detox of its own every once in a while? With all due respect to the lemon and cayenne pepper farmers in our country, chugging down Beyonce’s mix will not make your liver any lovelier than it already is. There is little scientific evidence that detox diets actually remove toxins from the body. It’s far better to support your liver with a healthy diet and if, or when, that’s not possible, supplement!
While there is no specific “liver health diet”, your liver will be grateful for every healthy choice you make - like banishing refined carbs and sugars (your bikini body might be grateful for that too!). Stick to the basics of a well-balanced diet with more of the fruit and veg, and less of the processed, drive thru fare!
And don’t forget your 8 hours. Your liver works hardest when you are in dreamland, so make the most of it! Bottom line: if you love your liver, this multi-tasking maestro with all its 500 functions will love you back!

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'promosm' 😴