Liver and Detox

The market is flooded with liver detox supplements. Almost everything that you eat and drink goes to your liver for filtering after passing through your stomach and intestines. The liver does the job of cleansing toxins generated in the blood through foods, medications and alcohol. But if the liver detoxes our body why and does it even need detox for itself? Come let’s understand in detail.

The Liver

The liver is one of the largest organs in the human body. As an essential organ, the liver performs over more than 500 different functions in the body including fat digestion, blood sugar and blood clotting regulation, vitamin storage, waste removal through bile and urine and numerous others. Out of these functions, one of the most important roles of the liver is detoxification.

Rise of liver detox supplements

The last few years have witnessed a rise in liver detox foods and supplements. There has been an ongoing debate about whether the liver really needs assistance for detoxification and do liver supplements really work, the answer is not straightforward.

Before we understand if liver supplements work let us understand how the liver performs the process of detoxification and what really goes into these supplements good for liver detox.

Liver’s Detox Function

Our body is under constant exposure to toxins, generated from foods, pollutants, medications and alcohol. Our liver is on its toes 24/7 for processing these harmful substances. It converts them into less harmful materials and ensures their elimination from the body as waste in the form of urine and faeces.

Toxin removal is essential for the prevention of damage to the body. These toxins are generated from various sources. Environmental toxins from dust, pollution, heavy metals, and pesticides which we indirectly consume through inhalation or absorption through the skin. Some are generated through the consumption of processed foods and chemicals in the form of additives. While some toxins are generated within the body such as bilirubin and ammonia as a by-product of metabolic processes

This detoxification process takes place in 3 major steps :

Filtration - Blood from the digestive tract and segregation of harmful substances, toxins and alcohol. After the liver cleans the blood, it sends the purified blood back into the body through special veins, making sure useful nutrients stay while harmful substances are removed.

Enzymatic action- Enzymes from the liver then act upon these toxins and convert them into less harmful ones. While some enzymes convert the toxins into water-soluble molecules that can be easily eliminated, Few enzymes break down complex structures into simpler ones to facilitate its excretion.

Elimination- While some of the waste products get dissolved in water & are sent to the kidneys for elimination through urine, some of the waste materials are mixed with a digestive fluid called bile and are sent to the intestines for gradual elimination through faeces.

Importance of liver detox

Damage prevention - Toxin removal is an essential process to protect our body from damage. Toxin buildup can have mild to serious effects such as fatigue to organ damage. This toxin overload can affect vital organs such as kidneys, liver, heart and brain. By detoxification liver aids in healthy digestion and prevention of infections and organ damage.

Increased Energy Levels - By clearance of toxin overload the liver is able to absorb nutrients essential for providing energy. With the accumulation of toxins, the liver can get sluggish and fatigued. Liver detox lightens this load making you feel more energetic.

Supporting Digestion - Liver detox enhances the functioning of the liver such as optimal nutrient absorption & metabolization. The liver also stimulates bile production which is essential for digestion. Thus a healthy liver supports healthy digestion.

Liver Supplements

While the liver protects us from toxins, it is also susceptible to damage by alcohol, toxins from foods, medications, hepatitis-causing viruses and carcinogens. While supplements good for liver detox may not completely take away the Liver’s job of detoxification but help in lessening its load. Let’s look at  the some popular herbs used in most of the  good supplements for liver health.

Milk Thistle

One widely recognized herb used in most supplements good for liver detox is Milk Thistle. This tall plant with pricky purple flowers is known to have hepatoprotective effects. This beneficial effect of Milk thistle is due to its active compound Syllimarin. The antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties of syllimarin exhibits hepatoprotective effects. Studies indicate that Milk thistle provides liver protection by blocking toxins from entering the liver cells as well as reducing damaging by free radicals by acting as an antioxidant. By producing proteins essential for cell growth, syllimarine also aids the liver in its repair process. Milk thistle is also effective in decreasing fibrosis(scarring of liver tissue) due to repeated injury/trauma/inflammation due to toxins/ infections/alcohol abuse or fatty liver.

Dandelion

Dandelion root extract is another potent herb which is shown to have liver protective benefits. Antioxidant components  such as taraxasterols and flavonoids from is particular herb helps lower inflammation and reduce oxidative stress thereby reducing risk of Acute Liver Failure. The onset of Acute Liver Failure may be triggered by drug abuse, insufficient nutrition, alcohol abuse. Dandelion also benefits the lover by stimulating bile production, thereby improving digestion and facilitating smooth removal of waste products.

Turmeric

Antioxidant, antiinflammatory, Antiseptic, antimicrobial, etc, turmeric has many feathers in its cap. And so turmeric also extends its benefit for liver health due to its antioxidant and antiinflammatory property. It is the curcumin from turmeric that imparts turmeric most of the therapeutic benefits. It also aids in healing of non alcoholic fatty liver by reducing fat build up, since turmeric aids in fat digestion. 

Note of Caution: Some studies have  temporary but negative impact of turmeric on Liver health when consumed in supplement format, incases of  pre exiting sensitivity, or liver disorder. So, check with your physiciam before consuming liver supplements containing turmeric.

Chicory

Just like turmeric, chicory has shown siginficant positive impact on elevated liver enzymes owing to its anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties.One of the first signs of liver inflammation are elevated liver enzymes.Excess fat accumulation is one of the major contributors to non alcoholic fatty liver diseases. Polyphenols and inulin from chicory root has been shown to benefit in elevated liver enzymes by reducing inflammation and fat build up in liver cells and reduce oxidative stress.

Other Factors influencing liver health

Your liver health is influenced by many factors. While you add the above herbs for improvoing your liver health, do not forget to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, practice moderation in alcohol, get vaccinated and avoid drug absue for having a holistic approach and consume alcohol in moderation

Are supplements Helpful

Now coming back to our main questions-? Is there any benefits of liver detox tablets? Does milk thistle cleanse the liver? The Answer is yes, they do! Good supplements for liver detox  that are clean in their formulations and that contain ingredients like the ones mentioned above in the right proportions can be beneficial for Liver health. While liver itself does the job of detoxing for the human body, an additional help especially when the liver is overloaded is always beneficial.

Summing Up

Metabolizing harmful toxins, and drugs is one of the crucial function of Liver. And understanding this potential the market has been flooded with liver detox tablets and other forms of liver supplement to support this liver function. But are they even effective or are they even needed in the first place? The above write up sums up the answers to these questions with better insights, research based explanations and final take aways.