Are you eating perfectly clean, training like a machine and still not seeing the results you deserve? Perhaps even struggling with a spasmodic menstrual cycle? It could be your liver.
The liver is your very own Personal Assistant. It is responsible for cleaning out your blood before it passes on to the rest of the body. It detoxifies toxins and chemicals and metabolises drugs. Working together with the gallbladder and pancreas it also helps with digestion.
When a person consumes alcohol the liver recognises this as a chemical so focuses on this being its primary job to clean up. The Ethanol in the alcohol is broken down for easier elimination. This will always be the first thing it metabolises. Everything else gets converted to fat until further notice, when the liver has time to deal with it. If it is faced with alcohol on a daily basis, it is over worked and it never ends up getting to the rest of its cleaning work. This results to fat being stored on and around the liver, leading to a build-up of visceral fat around the abdomen (the dangerous fat) and Alcoholic’s Fatty Liver Disease. When the liver develops this it then struggles to function optimally causing toxicity to build up around the body. This toxicity is responsible for a range of ailments including menstrual issues, digestive issues, inability to burn fat, obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, inflammation, to name just a few. As such, it is vital that alcohol is kept to a minimum for optimal health and coupled with a clean healthy diet.
A clean healthy diet is important because when you consume high quantities of sugars such as those found in processed foods, these sugars are converted by the liver to Ethanol and treated exactly the same way alcohol is. The end result here can be Non-Alcoholic’s Fatty Liver Disease, with the same risk factors as Alcoholic’s Fatty Liver Disease, even if you have never sipped a glass of alcohol in your life!
So if you have recently (in the last 3-6 months) changed your diet to a much fresher, cleaner range of produce and are wondering why you are still struggling to lean up, you may want to have your liver checked. You may find that it is in fact working quite sluggishly because of a past unfavourable lifestyle that is coming back to haunt you. Think of it like buying flowers for your PA to put a smile on their face after a bad week.
Your doctor can help you with improving your liver function. Alternatively you can consult with a Functional Health Practitioner, or a Personal Trainer like me, that has studied Functional Health. Through diet, exercise, water and certain detox and nutrient support supplements, we can have that little Personal Assistant working at its maximum capacity in no time!
So be kind to your liver. Limit alcohol and processed food consumption, drink plenty of water, exercise and consult with a professional listed above if you require further assistance.
Terri Batsakis
