The liver has a lot of functions in the body and is involved in nearly every process that is occurring. The first thing that the liver does it that it filters the blood coming from the digestive tract before it gets passed through to the rest of the body. This means that everything that you put into your mouth and everything that you breathe and absorb through your skin passes through the liver.
The liver takes the nutrients from the food that we eat and turns it into nutrients the body can use. Part of this process involves turning all the sugars into glycogen to be used when we need energy. Other uses for our food is building the foundation for endocrine and hormone protection through the use of cholesterol, the liver is also responsible in the making and processing of this pre-cursor to hormones. Cholesterol is also produced as protection in the body. When triglycerides are increased and can not be used they get stored in the body as fat. The liver produces cholesterol to help contain the triglycerides in the blood stream this is the very low density (vldl) cholesterol.
Filters out the Toxins
The liver is also filtering out any metabolic toxins as well as toxins in our body that our bodies either do not know how to process or have become so overburdened that they can not process it any more. These other toxins can come from:
- soap
- shampoo
- preservatives
- chemicals in food
- outgases from new cars
- furniture
- cleaning products
- cosmetic products
- gas fumes....
And this is the short list!! A build up of these toxins can cause inflammation, obesity, and disease in the body. Finally, the liver is involved in assisting our immune systems to handle the daily environmental assaults.
Another critical organ involved in metabolic syndrome is the pancreas... The pancreas secretes insulin when ever our blood sugar levels get to high. This secretion of insulin helps lower the blood sugar to levels that are not dangerous to the body. When the pancreas can no longer efficiently secrete insulin to control blood sugar in the body then you have diabetes.
Some symptoms that you may be having blood sugar problems are cravings for sugar and carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, and cereal; fatigue, especially if it is relieved by eating; poor concentration, poor memory, trouble losing weight, gas and bloating, tired in the afternoon, blurred vision, sleepy after meals, waking up at night, and if you get shaky or irritable without food.
For more information on the relationship between carbohydrates, blood sugar, insulin and the impacts on the body, check out www.youtube/merrittwellness.
Tune in to my next article to find out more about symptoms and the criteria to determine if you or a loved one has Metabolic Syndrome.
Debi Farley is a licensed acupuncturists, Certified Holistic Health Practitioner and the owner of Acupuncture Clinic of Richmond, Virginia. Find out more about Debi Farley at www.debifarely.com.
