You’ve had a rest and now it’s time to clear up… There’s something rather soothing about the first few months of the year. There’s not much going on, diary-wise, but there’s a pile of books still waiting to be read and plenty of great stuff to catch up with on TV. This is a time of rest and some light internal housekeeping. The liver is the place to start.
The liver is a thing of wonder, the multi-tasker par excellence. It creates, destroys, alchemises, cleanses, sifts and filters its way through whatever you throw at it, without ever taking a break.
It rarely makes a fuss, and can put up with a great deal before it starts to rumble. So, you may not notice when it is functioning below par, or has started to accumulated fat.
There are two things you need to do to show your liver some love: clear and strengthen your detox pathways, and reduce any fattiness you may have accumulated in that region.
Let’s start with your detoxification pathways.
Clear the way
Until very recently — about a century ago — the work of the liver’s detox department was on the whole fairly manageable: recycle old hormones, process food metabolites, make heavy metals safe, eliminate pollution from smoke… run-of-the-mill stuff for such a powerful organ. Excessive alcohol intake was perhaps the greatest challenge it might encounter. Otherwise, the liver was more than up to the task it was created for.
Then, almost without warning, the 20th century burst through the door, bringing with it hundreds of thousands of synthetic chemicals in the form of food additives, cleaning materials, pesticides, herbicides, drugs, dyes, plastics…. all unnatural substances bearing no resemblance to anything the liver had ever seen before. These new industrial toxins are now routinely consumed, injected, inhaled or rubbed in, before they are dispatched to the liver, which is somehow expected to deal with it all.
There’s only so much a liver can take. Signs of toxic overload include chronic fatigue, frequent infections, immune disorders, mental fog, poor memory, and hormonal imbalances. These signs suggest that the detox pathways need to be decongested and reinforced.
Detoxification occurs in two phases
Detox phase one
During phase one, toxins — both natural and unnatural — are neutralised. Most chemicals are fat-soluble, and have to be transformed into water-soluble substances by the cytochrome p450 enzyme group before entering phase two for further processing. This activity creates free radicals and substances that are even more toxic than the original product, and these have to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently.
In order to function, the cytochrome P450 enzymes require B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, folate, B12), vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and magnesium. Antioxidants are particularly important to phase one, helping the liver deal with the free radicals that are produced.
Detox phase two
This is the conjugation, or transformation phase. Substances are added to the toxins created in phase one to make them harmless and ready for excretion. This happens in several ways that require many nutrients but above all glutathione, sulphate, and glycine.
Glutathione is considered the body’s “master” antioxidant, and certainly the most important antioxidant in the liver. It is made of three amino acids: cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine.
The richest dietary sources of all three amino acids are red meat, poultry, fish, and dairy foods.
Although ready-made glutathione is found in some food sources (broccoli, asparagus, avocado, spinach) absorption is too poor to be of much value. Fortunately, like other important antioxidants, the body makes almost all of its own supply. To do so also requires B vitamins, including B12, and vitamin C, which acts as a liver antioxidant, and vitamin E, also an antioxidant.
Glutathione supplements are of little help because they too are poorly absorbed. Milk thistle, however, may be beneficial as it is rich in a flavonoid called silymarin that increases glutathione production.
Sulphate is provided by the amino acid’s methionine and cysteine. Methionine is one of the nine essential amino acids that can only be obtained from food. The best, most absorbable dietary sources of both methionine and cysteine are red meat, poultry, dairy, shellfish, and eggs.
Smaller amounts of sulphur are found in certain plant foods, most notably garlic, onions, and the cruciferous vegetables: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower.
When phase one and two are complete, it’s elimination time. This stage is sometimes called phase three and takes place via bile, stool, urine and sweat.
Now that you’ve started the liver detox process it’s time to move on to the next stage. To restore the liver to full health, you also need to carry out a defatting process.
Avoiding non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
NAFLD is potentially dangerous in the long-term. When fat starts to accumulate in the liver, and is not addressed, inflammation may develop, leading to hepatitis and fibrosis (scarring). This can progress to the condition Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and eventually cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is permanent and life-threatening.
Alcohol is one cause of liver damage. So too is the virus hepatitis C. Another serious offender, when it comes to fat accumulation, is not dietary fat, but dietary sugar and a high carbohydrate intake.
The healthy liver has very little fat. However, if you eat lots of carbohydrates and sugary foods the glucose produced is converted into fat and stored in the liver, as well as in muscles and in adipose tissue.
Glucose is bad enough, but worse still is its evil twin, fructose. Fructose is a sugar that encourages the liver to accumulate fat and store it, rather than burn it. And even worse than plain fructose is high-fructose corn syrup, a concentrated form of fructose that is now a common sweetener in processed foods, and in particular soft drinks. Most sodas in the US are now sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.
That doesn’t bode well for the future. Almost two-thirds of children consume sugary drinks every day. At the same time, NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in US children, with around 5% to 10% of children affected.
Drinking one soda drink a day containing 80 grams of fructose produces twice as much fat in the liver as glucose does. The effect can last for more than 12 hours after sugar consumption has stopped.
Children with NAFLD have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. So too do adults.
Metabolic syndrome and diabetes
There is a surprisingly close link between diabetes type 2 and NAFLD. Before diabetes sets in there is usually a stage called metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of signs and symptoms that include abdominal fat accumulation, elevated serum triglycerides (fat in the blood) and dysglycemia, an inability to maintain stable blood sugar.
NAFLD is considered to be the liver component of metabolic syndrome. It is a risk factor for heart disease and occurs especially in the obese and those with existing metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
The liver defat diet
A low carbohydrate diet can reduce metabolic syndrome and fatty liver. So that’s your starting point. Just cut out all those added sugars and starchy carbohydrates: bread, rice, pasta, pastries, biscuits (cookies) and cakes, and replace them with nutrient-dense meats, eggs and fish.
Oily fish has added benefits. Salmon, sardines, trout, herring, anchovies, and mackerel are all rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce fat storage in the liver. They also help reduce blood fats. Avoid seed oils (corn, sunflower, soya, canola) because they are rich in omega-6 fatty acids that will displace omega-3 fats.
The way the liver gets rid of all the detritus of the body is quite astonishing. More often than not, it does not require more stuff to help do its job, just less. Fewer carbohydrates and a nutrient-rich diet should do it. The first few months of the year are a good time to rest and recuperate, but there’s never a bad time to love your liver.
