A much mistreated soul
>From a chemical perspective, much of the work of the liver is taken up in the transformation of substances - broken down, built up and turned from one thing into another. A good 80 per cent of this involves detoxifying potentially harmful substances. Much of this liver function represents a clearing house, able to recognise millions of potentially harmful chemicals and transform them into something harmless or prepare them for elimination. It assembles amino acids, stores vitamins and minerals, makes cholesterol and bile, controls glucose and fat supplies, balances hormones and plays a key role in immunity. It is the chemical brain of the body - recycling, regenerating and detoxifying in order to maintain your health.

In the world of nutrition it's all too easy to think that food is good for you. Of course it is, but the truth is that almost all foods contain toxins as well as nutrients. So too do air and water. These external, or exo-toxins rep-resent just a small part of what the liver has to deal with; many toxins are made by the body from otherwise harmless molecules. Every thoug ht, every breath and every action generates toxins. These internally created or endo-toxins have to be disarmed in just the same way that exo-toxins do. Whether a substance is bad for you depends as much on your ability to detoxify it as its inherent toxic properties. Those with multiple food sensitivities are eating the same food as healthy people - they could have just lost that detoxification potential.

Instead of thinking of certain substances as 'bad' for you, or provoking allergies, think of them as exceeding your adaptive capacity. It's as if the body's metabolism represents a fire. The fire generates smoke that needs to be got rid of. Our metabolic fire, the consequence of using the energy from the sun stored in plants, burns slowly and generates plenty of smoke. That's what the liver has to deal with - it's this smoke, not the substances themselves that often causes problems.

Detoxification - A two step process
How the liver detoxifies can be split into two stages. The first, known as Phase 1, is akin to getting your rubbish and waste ready for collection.

It doesn't actually eliminate anything, just prepares it for elimination, making it easier to pick up by putting it in black plastic bin liners so to speak, ready for collection.

Fat-soluble toxins, for example, are made more water soluble. Phase 1 is carried out by a series of enzymes called P-450 enzymes. The more toxins you're exposed to, the faster these enzymes must work to pile up garbage ready for collection. Often, the substances created by the P-450 enzyme reactions are more toxic than before. For example, many are intensified briefly, generating unstable and potentially harmful bi-products called free radicals.

The function of P-450 enzymes depends on a long list of nutrients including vitamins B2, B3, B6, B12 folic acid, glutathione, branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine), flavonoids and phospholipids plus a generous supply of antioxidant nutrients to deal with the oxidants. Often a person who has a high exposure to toxins (perhaps due to diet and lifestyle factors or digestive problems) has a revved up Phase 1, used to working hard and fast to get these toxins ready for collection. Substances that get Phase 1 going include caffeine, alcohol, dioxins, cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes, high protein diets, organophosphate fertilisers, paint fumes, saturated fat, steroid hormones and charcoal barbecued meat.

The second stage, known as Phase 2, is more about building up than breaking down. Around 80 per cent of all the building that the body does is for the purposes of detoxification. The end products of Phase 1 are transformed by 'sticking' things on to them...

This is called conjug ation. Some toxins have glutathione stuck to them (this is called glutathione conjug ation). This is how, we detoxify paracetamol (acetaminophen) for example. In cases of overdose, a person is given glutathione to mop up the highly destructive toxins generated by Phase 1 detoxification of this drug .

Other toxins have sulphur stuck to them in a process called sulphation. This is the fate of many steroid hormones, neurotransmitters and, once again, paracetamol. The sulphur comes directly from food. Garlic, onions and eggs, for example, are good sources of sulphur-containing amino acids such as methionine and cysteine - so a lack of these and you've got a problem.

Others have carbon compounds, called methyl groups, stuck to them (this is called methylation). Lead and arsenic are detoxified in this way. Aspirin has the amino acid glycine stuck to it (called glycine conjug ation). When these pathways are overloaded the body can use another, known as glucuronidation, which is the primary route for breaking down many tranquillising drug s.

Too many toxins or not enoug h nutrients?
When these biochemical 'pathways' don't work properly, due to toxic overload or a lack of nutrients, the body generates harmful toxins itself. An example is homocysteine, a toxic by-product of breaking down the amino acid methionine. This can be a result of problems with sulphation, usually a consequence of a lack of vitamin B6, or methylation which involves folic acid. Sulphur dioxide, a component of exhaust fumes, is detoxified via the sulphation pathway whose enzymes depend on the mineral molybdenum, which is particularly high in beans. Over-exposure, coupled with a molybdenum-deficient diet can lead to intolerance of exhaust fumes.

These detoxifying pathways work together. If one is overloaded a toxin may be processed by another. Homocystine can, as a back-up system, be mopped up by glycine conjug ation, which is why taking in more of the amino acid glycine often has the effect of lowering an elevated homocysteine level.

Liver problems or health problems?
Looking from a 'liver's eye' view on many disease processes often sheds new light on the health problems and solutions of the late twentieth century. Just about any allergic, inflammatory or metabolic disorder may involve or create sub-optimum liver function including eczema, asthma, chronic fatigue, chronic infections, inflammatory bowel disorders, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, even schizophrenia and hormone imbalances.

Many hormone-related problems are being blamed on 'oestrogen dominance'. The body makes oestrogen but how does it maintain the right balance? The answer lies in the liver. The balance of oestrone, oestradiol and oestriol, which are the three oestrogenic hormones, is critical to health. The transformation of one into another and the actual degradation of these hormones is controlled by the liver. So poor liver function can lead to an imbalance and accumulation of oestrogenic hormones.

The brain is not able to disarm a wide range of toxins - it depends on the liver to do a chemical clean-up of the blood before it gets there. So toxic overload of the liver has dire consequences for brain and nervous system function. Autism, schizophrenia and memory loss are all associated with poor liver function.

Cholesterol and blood sugar control

Cholesterol is both made and detoxified by the liver. If you need more, it will make it. If you need less it will break it down - if it can. Cholesterol is a major building block for hormones. You can use it to make the sex hormones testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone as well as adrenal hormones. From cholesterol, the liver can make bile to digest fat. The body makes no less than one litre of bile each day.

Althoug h most is reabsorbed from the digestive tract into the blood, the small amount that leaves the body takes with it toxins excreted by the liver. Liver problems usually lead to accumulation of fat in the liver which can be responsible for 'fatty liver' or 'slug gish liver' associated with excess alcohol consumption. Alcohol is definitely no friend to your liver.

The liver can also turn sugar into glycogen and fat. When your blood sugar level is low it turns glycogen back into glucose. By ensuring optimal liver function, you improve the bodyÕs ability to maintain the right balance of cholesterol, triglycerides (blood fats) and glucose, which are key to maintaining good health.

Restoring optimal liver function
The good news is that, with the right nutrients, you can restore optimal liver function and with a good diet, lifestyle and the right supplements (we have made a few recommendations to the right) you can maintain liver function at optimal levels. For those with chronic health problems, especially those involving chronic fatigue, allergies or chemical sensitivities, or digestive disorders, it is a wise investment to detoxify and support the liver as much as possible as well as giving the right balance of nutrients to get the liver's log-jam moving again.

Prevention, however, is better than cure and if you are basically healthy and want to promote and maintain optimal liver function the best advice is to cut down on your intake of toxic substances, eat an optimal diet and take a balanced nutrition supplement programme. The programme we have devised forr you will help your liver in the detoxification and can help support it long term.

In summary, supporting your liver can be broken down into managable 'chunks' like this...

Minimise your intake of alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, sugar, fried foods, saturated fat, pesticides, exhaust fumes, medications.

Increase your intake of all fruits and vegetables, especially those rich in antioxidants (carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, watercress etc.); anthocyanidins (berries, beetroot, grapes); glucosinolates (cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale).

Aim for an alkaline and not acidic diet.

Eat carnivorous and oily fish in place of meat, cold-pressed seeds and seed oils instead of butter

Drink plenty of mineral water, Artichokes and turmeric also aid liver function.

Supplement a high strength multivitamin and mineral, additional antioxidant nutrients and at least 2000mg of vitamin C plus any other of the complexes recommended here.