Most people don’t think about their liver very much. I have to say, as organs go, the liver just doesn’t get the attention showered on the heart and brain, but it is absolutely crucial to health and longevity.
One of the liver’s most important jobs is to eliminate compounds that might otherwise cause us some degree of harm. This is called detoxification, because the elimination process is a series of several complex processes before the offending compound is finally dumped in the intestines for disposal. If we didn’t have a liver, one dose of some prescription drugs would stay in our blood stream forever. That shot of tequila would never go away. Those fake estrogens from BPA plastic bottles would just keep circulating, creating hormonal havoc wherever they go. We often don’t know how much our liver does for us until something goes wrong.
When I worked in hospitals, I was exposed to a patient who had undiagnosed tuberculosis (TB). In order to protect those exposed, we were given a medication called isoniazid (INH), which is an antibiotic used to both prevent and treat TB. The protocol is to take it for six months in order to make sure that no mycobacterium survives to cause later infection. After about two months on this drug, I began to feel miserable. I was tired regardless of how much I slept, and I slept a lot. I was miserable, achy, nauseous most of the time, I had a dull pain in my side and my mood was in the basement. It turns out that the drug had cause a temporary inflammation of my liver, and my liver enzymes were all elevated. I was taken off the drug immediately and began to feel better in a few days. This experience gave me an entirely new perspective of how people with liver dysfunction feel, and my case was only a mild one!
If your liver is at the top of its game, it is an unbeatable superhero. We all know someone who does not take good care of themselves, perhaps they drink or use drugs to excess, they may smoke, they don’t exercise, and their idea of a vegetable is a French fry. I look at Mick Jagger with astonishment! And yet, there are 78-, 80- or even 90-year-olds that are doing fine despite their “vices.” I once knew an old farmer who met this description, with the addition of his exposure to pesticides and herbicides sprayed on his crops. He lived and worked until he was 99-years-old and died of a heart attack while on his tractor. He turned off the tractor, climbed down, took two steps and was gone.
So why do a few people do everything “wrong” yet still survive and thrive? My opinion? They have a stainless-steel, bullet-proof liver. Some people are so very good at detox that the toxins to which they are exposed are pulled out of the body quick as can be, before serious damage can be done. The problem is that these people are rare, and you do not know if you are one of them until you have already exposed yourself to damage and escaped unscathed. Better to not smoke, use moderation in all things, eat unprocessed food, and take care of your health if you want to be able to do the tango at 100. You might even want to have a cup of coffee, because coffee has been found to be beneficial for liver health!
In addition to healthy living, what else can we do to take care of our liver? One good practice is to avoid acetaminophen (one brand name is Tylenol) as much as possible. In addition to over-the-counter pain relievers, acetaminophen is an ingredient in sleep products, as well as cold and flu formulas. It is a component of prescription narcotic analgesics, such as Vicodin (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) and Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen). Acetaminophen destroys the ability of the liver to make an important antioxidant and detox agent called glutathione, and too much acetaminophen destroys liver tissue. In fact, acetaminophen use is the No. 1 cause of acute liver damage and failure in America.
What are some other liver problems? The best known are probably hepatitis A, B and C, which are caused by bacterial or viral infections. There is also non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is growing at an astronomical rate, cirrhosis of the liver, drug and alcohol liver damage, liver cancer, and a fair number of rare liver diseases with genetic roots.
There are supplements that can make a big difference in liver health, whether for prevention of disease, or to help repair previous damage. My favorites are milk thistle, curcumin, grape seed extract and andrographis.
Milk Thistle
When the liver is stressed, we start to see escalating levels of inflammation along with a lot of free radical activity. Milk thistle contains components that address both, as well as early research indicating it may help protect liver cells from toxins. Milk thistle compounds also influence liver self-repair pathways in a positive manner. In animal studies, a compound found in this botanical called silymarin reduced liver injury caused by acetaminophen, carbon tetrachloride, radiation, iron overload, certain prescription drugs, alcohol and even the liver poisonous mushroom, Amanita phalloides. Silymarin has been used to treat alcoholic liver disease as well as toxin-induced liver diseases. Clinical studies have had mixed results on fatty liver and certain other diseases, but its ability to protect against fibrosis and toxins has been demonstrated repeatedly.
Curcumin
For those of you who read my columns, you may be asking yourself right now, does she recommend curcumin for everything? The answer is, more or less, yes, I do. Because curcumin has very powerful and specific activity in reducing inflammation, oxidative stress and up- and down-regulation of a multitude of cancer progression pathways, there are few health concerns that would not benefit from this herbal medicine.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 58 people with cirrhosis of the liver, curcumin was found to be superior at reducing the symptoms of this disease, including upper abdominal pain, depression, decreased appetite, fatigue, sleeping during the day, itching and jaundice.
As for liver cancer, curcumin has been shown to downregulate certain tumor promoting pathways while upregulating cancer prevention pathways. It reduces the likelihood of cancer cells to create cancer stem cells that hide from treatment only to reawaken months or years later and cause a recurrence. Curcumin supports healthy bile production, which is extremely important to liver detoxification activity, as bile carries the toxins out of the liver and into the intestines for excretion.
For curcumin to be effective, it must be absorbed, so enhanced absorption is a better consideration.
Grape Seed Extract (GSE)
Most people think of a standardized GSE (high levels of OPCs and free of tannins) as a cardiovascular product. It is true that GSE is very useful for blood vessel resilience and integrity, and has been proven to lower high blood pressure, but it also has excellent liver benefits. Animal studies have shown that it protects against the formation of fatty tissue in the liver, as well as protecting liver cells from damage by toxins such as lead or chemical exposure. The OPCs in grape seed also benefit diabetes and insulin resistance, which indirectly improves liver health. Uncontrolled blood sugar levels are damaging to the liver and are a big contributing factor to fatty liver disease. There are also studies on the potent anticancer benefits of GSE, alone, or in combination with curcumin and andrographis. Preventing liver cancer or liver cancer recurrence requires a healthy nutrient regimen.
Andrographis
In a recent study, researchers fed animals a diet with high levels of unhealthy fats and cholesterol to cause them to develop fatty liver disease. Some animals also received andrographis. Those in the herbal group were much healthier, with lowered oxidation of liver fat, and reduction in inflammation and oxidative damage.
One marker of liver health is measurement of liver enzymes. Elevated enzymes are indicative of liver concerns. A scientific study showed that andrographis can lower the abnormal liver enzymes caused by liver dysfunction, which is an indicator of improved liver health.
Summary
This list, as usual, is not all inclusive. Berberine, coenzyme Q10, ashwagandha, sesame, and even melatonin also have published studies on benefits for liver health. There are many tools in the toolbox when it comes to liver care, and thank goodness for that. Loving your liver can pay off in the long run, even several decades later! VR
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Cheryl Myers is an integrative health nurse, author, and an expert on natural medicine. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Prevention magazine. Her many articles have been published in such diverse journals as Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Nutrition in Complementary Care, and her research on botanicals has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society. Myers is the head of scientific affairs and education for EuroPharma, Inc.
