Heal Your Liver

Way back in biology class, we learned that every organ has a specific job: The heart pumps blood around the body, the lungs provide oxygen, the stomach breaks down food and the kidneys excrete waste. But when we got to the liver, things got a bit more complicated. “Think of it as a processing plant that never shuts down,” says Cleveland Clinic functional medicine expert Mark Hyman, M.D. The liver is connected to the heart and digestive tract by two main blood vessels that act like conveyor belts, delivering a constant stream of various compounds—everything from nutrients and medicine to chemical toxins, damaged cells and used hormones—that must be filtered, sorted, repackaged, then stored or shipped off. All told, the liver has more than 500 roles, all of them vital…

Millions of women suffering from the tiredness, stomach problems and brain fog of a fatty liver may also have an undiagnosed thyroid problem, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic. Their study found that women with nonalco-holic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) had a fivefold greater risk of hypo-thyroidism—and that those with a slow thyroid were more than twice as likely to have NAFLD. It’s not clear yet which condition raises the risk of the other, says lead author Mangesh Pagadala, M.D., but both are associated with metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors that increase the chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke. His advice? If you’ve been diagnosed with a sluggish thyroid or NAFLD, ask your healthcare provider about getting screened for the other condition.…

GREEN TEA Drinking three cups of green tea daily could make your liver’s fat stores plunge by 30%, report University of Connecticut researchers. How? Catechins in green tea energize liver cells to burn fat. Tip: Sip a cup after a walk. Penn State research shows doing so can reduce fat accumulation in the liver by up to 80%. COFFEE Studies show the risk of fatty liver drops by 65% among those who drink up to four cups of joe daily. For best results, skip dairy milk and sugar since sugar causes the liver to store fat. LEMON WATER Sip 16 oz. of water mixed with 2 Tbs. of fresh lemon juice in the morning, and you’ll fire up production of the liver enzymes that break down fat in the organ. Credit…

Acid-blocking proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) can increase the odds of fatty liver disease by up to 50% when taken for six months or more, according to research in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. That’s because PPIs wipe out stomach acid that keeps bad bacteria (and the toxins they produce) in check. So bacteria and toxins increase, causing inflammation that leads to liver fat. A better heartburn cure: deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL). “DGL protects the stomach and esophagus against gastric acid’s burning impact,” says Julie Chen, M.D., an integrative medicine specialist in San Jose, California. “Plus, it boosts blood flow to tissues to help speed the healing of acid-induced damage.” She suggests taking 300 to 400 mg. of a product with less than 2% of glycyrrhizin (a licorice compound that may raise…

Replacing sugar with the natural sweetener stevia reduces markers of fatty liver disease by 59%, according to an animal study published in the journal Scientific Reports. When researchers examined the effects of the noncaloric sweeteners sucralose and stevia extract on liver function, they found that stevia lowered glucose levels, improved insulin sensitivity and lowered levels of fat in the liver, while sucralose had no effect on liver function or blood sugar levels. “Sugary foods and drinks can cause scarring in the liver,” explains study co-author Rohit Kohli, M.D., a gastroenterologist at University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “But stevia extract lowers glucose levels and improves markers of fatty liver disease.” Though the exact mechanism is still unclear, the study authors believe that stevia may inhibit inflammation in the…

Today’s modern world bom-bards every one of us with junk food, chemicals, stress and more around the clock. While our bodies have amazing natural detoxification mechanisms, the liver often becomes overwhelmed to the point of exhaustion and benefits greatly from a little help. How do we do that? For starters, all of the strategies in this magazine work in part by eliminating unhealthy foods and chemicals that put additional pressure on an already-struggling system, then they add in liver healers proven to ‘unclog’ the gland and get it working better than ever. And here’s why having multiple tools in your liver-boosting arsenal is key: “The impact of a toxic world hits each of us in different ways, influenced by our habits, age, environment and even our genes,” explains Radical Longevity…