Your Amazing Liver

picture of the liverWhy is the liver worth Detoxing and Supporting? In these series of articles we will discuss how the liver operates, and find out when to do a detox. We will also talk about how to get the maximum benefits out of your detox, and what ingredients to look for when choosing a detox supplement. First, let us consider how your amazing liver works:

The liver is one of our most crucial organs, performing over 500 functions. Like a miniature refinery, the liver converts carbohydrates, fats and proteins into substances essential for life. It exports and manufactures nutrients needed by other organs to function properly such as bile used by the intestines during digestion. The liver also purifies our blood of toxic substances from the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. If the liver is not functioning optimally, our body begins to store these toxins in our tissues.

Bile is made in the liver but stored in the gall bladder. Bile is produced in the liver from cholesterol. It is stored in the gallbladder which is situated just below the liver. The gallbladder is connected to the cystic duct which opens in the small intestine. The gall bladder receives the bile from liver through the common bile duct which is formed by the union of two hepatic ducts. The bile is then concentrated more than ten times in the gallbladder. It is released into the small intestine in response to stimulation by fatty foods. Bile’s function is to break down fats into microscopic droplets. This emulsification helps digestion by increasing greater surface area for better absorption. Then the pancreas produces pancreatic lipase to break fats down into glycogen and fatty acids.

Do you need more than Milk Thistle to do a proper detox? Stay tuned for next week’s blog to find out!