If you struggle to make it through the silly season, then your liver may be the culprit…or is it? Are you just expecting it to perform miracles without actually supporting it properly?

Rather than just ear bash you about drinking too much, eating too much and generally letting your hair down I want to explain your liver’s side of the story. If you can understand it a little bit better, you might even fall in love with your liver!

Some fun liver trivia!

Your liver filters 2L of blood every minute! It performs so many essential, life preserving functions that we literally cannot live without one. Even more incredible? We can live with just half a liver- and that can grow back to full size in just a few months. I know! Incredible! It’s the only organ that can do this.

The catch? It can only regenerate if the remaining liver tissue is healthy.

So how does the liver spend its time?

Cholesterol: the liver makes and removes cholesterol from the body. Sounds contradictory, I know — but cholesterol is vital. It’s needed for every cell membrane, vitamin D production, hormones, and bile. If our liver is not feeling the love, it isn’t removing the cholesterol from the blood stream which allows it to build up. That’s when you start hearing your GP start chatting about ‘risk of heart disease’.

Bile: the liver produces bile which is made of cholesterol. The bile is stored in the gallbladder and shot out at the right moment of digestion to break down the dietary fats allowing them to be better digested and metabolised. Not just the rubbish fats but the good ones we get from oily fish, avocado and extra virgin olive oil too. The bile is then excreted as waste or recycled. If our liver is distracted with us living ‘the good life’ then it can’t do this quite as well and instead of using cholesterol to make bile salts it may well return them to the blood stream to deal with later which increases those pesky cholesterol blood test markers. Oooopppsss….

Sugar: the liver is involved in keeping blood sugar levels level. It stores about 24hrs worth of energy in there ready for quick release when our levels drop to make sure the brain gets fed. And the excess? Well, if it’s not used immediately, it shuffles that off as fats to be stored in the body including around the liver itself.

Detoxification: this is where things get juicy! The liver is responsible for detoxifying our blood of environmental chemicals, drugs, alcohol, heavy metals, hormones and just about anything you can think of. Quite a job right there! The liver is a total work horse but even a work horse will struggle if you ask too much of it.

A backlog of substances for the liver to deal with can lead to you feeling:

· Fatigued

· Bloated

· Constipated

· Hormonally off

· Headachy

Alcohol: this deserves a special mention. The liver is the primary site for ethanol metabolism. It kills liver cells every time you ask your lovely liver to metabolise a bevvy. Luckily, the liver can regenerate…if the rest of it is healthy. As soon as the liver starts to metabolise the ethanol the process interferes with the metabolism of carbohydrates, and you quickly go from high sugar to low sugar leaving you craving food. And generally, not a kale, cucumber and pineapple smoothie if you know what I mean. Which takes us back to the cholesterol issue…

5 golden liver-loving rules you can follow this season

1. Eat your leafy greens

Make sure you add the leafy greens to your plate this season. Keep a balanced plate, even when you are out, by loading up the leafy salads. Make sure your everyday meals are just that bit better to accommodate the extra functions this time of year.

2. Prioritise good fats

Choose good fats like extra virgin olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, linseed/flaxseed oil to nurture your liver and keep a regular bile flow. Avoid the cheap oils that they use in deep frying even when you are out.

3. Minimise sugar

I know this is a no brainer but keep the sweet treats to a minimum. This time of year sugar is everywhere! But that doesn’t mean you need to eat it. Be selective. Choose what you truly enjoy and be aware of what is sneaking into your mouth because it was there rather than because you really fancied it.

4. Fibre, fibre, fibre

Good for the gut and also helpful to the liver.

Constipation = waste sitting too long = inflammation = more work for your liver.

Choose:

· Oats

· Legumes (chickpea salads, lentil pasta)

· Whole grains (rye, amaranth, quinoa, linseed)
- and please drink your water — 35mL per kilo of body weight.

5. Minimise Alcohol

Yep, left the best for last. You’ve read why above but not sure how to do it so here are some simple tips. Swap alcohol for Kombucha or sparkling water with some lemon. Make sure every second drink is water. If you have a few functions, you know alcohol will be a big part of them. Either plan to drive or make sure that through the week when you are at home you give your liver a break and have alcohol free days.

Right now, not drinking is the new black. Very chic.

I know I’ve been a total kill joy. But your liver has not had an easy life and it’s a very hard worker! So, this silly season show your liver a little love and exercise some moderation.

Book now to help your liver