What Your Liver Does and Why It’s So Important
Your liver is the largest vital organ in your body. It carries out several essential tasks every single day to keep your body running, including:
Breaking down toxins like, medications, alcohol, chemicals and pollutants. Converts ammonia, a byproduct of metabolism, into urea, which is excreted as urine. Produces bile to help with fat digestion.Converts glucose (carbohydrates) into glycogen to be used by your muscles. Manufactures cholesterol and triglycerides. Regulates blood levels of amino acids. Removes bacteria from the bloodstream and supports immune system. Stores some vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and B 12.
All the blood leaving your intestines and stomach pass through your liver to be cleansed and purified before going back into circulation. That means your liver holds about one pint of your body’s blood supply at all times.
As you can see, none of these functions are things your body can “do without”. Any kind of liver damage can cause toxins to wreak havoc in your body, bile regulation to be thrown off (causing you to have problems with fat digestion), and even disrupt your cholesterol levels.
There are several telltale signs that you might be in the early stages of liver damage. Of course, if you’re experiencing any of these (and especially if you’re experiencing more than one), you’ll want to see your doctor. Below are some of the symptoms to be aware of:
- Yellowing of skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Itchy skin
- Bruising easily
- Water retention (also indicator of heart malfunction)
- Tender abdomen (tender in the upper right section under your rib cage, the area can also be swollen and be accompanied by a throbbing or stabbing pain, and can even be mistaken for shoulder pain, since it tends to radiate outward.
- Dark urine
- Pale stool (Normally the color of your poop is varying shades of brown. If this color begins to turn pale or clay color, there may be problems with your liver, gallbladder and or pancreas. These areas produce bile salts and its the salts that give your poop its color, if the organs are malfunctioning the salts are not produced.
For a complete explanation of each symptom visit:
https://blog.paleohacks.com/?s=7+Signs+of+LIver+Damage