Love your liver - Part one

Everyone has heard of it. You cannot survive without it. You only have one and it is a highly complex piece of machinery. Some people look after it and a few even eat it. I am, of course, talking about LIVER.

This has been the toughest subject to cover yet! I need to share some of the information I have picked up over the past few months with regards to the liver and how important it is. For the first time in my life I have been putting in a conscious effort to look after mine now and I really hope these posts will inspire you to look after yours a little more too! I warn you now though, the subject matter is huge and more complex than I can even start to imagine so I have decided to break it into several articles covering different aspects of liver starting with……

WHY? The eternal question….

To really understand the importance of this amazing organ you need to understand what it does for you, especially with regards to your thyroid. Most of us know it will process the alcohol we consume and are generally aware that we should take better care of it but why?
Well, there are over 500 known functions carried out by the liver (not all known to me personally but science has assured me that this is the case). Indeed, the liver is probably best known for its detoxifying role. But did you know that the liver also has an amazing capability to regenerate itself – like the cockroach that grows back a lost limb, the liver can renew damaged tissue to ensure optimum working capability at all times. ‘Thoroughly amazing’ I hear you whisper. Yet even more importantly, a little known fact is that the liver plays a crucial role in your thyroid function. Let’s get technical….

T time

If you currently take hypothyroid medication, as I do, you are likely taking a set amount of Levothyroxine – AKA T4 (I believe the name comes from the chemical make-up of the hormone, it is not simply a little nickname I have for my tablet). This is meant to replace the hormone that your thyroid would normally generate.

Still with me? Good.

Now, just so you know – T4 is not the only hormone secreted by your thyroid but it accounts for the bulk of hormone released (I understand it makes up approximately ¾ of hormone in the blood. There are other hormones like T1, T2, T3 and calcitonin.). But what’s important is that the T4 hormone will travel round your body in your blood stream and then when it enters your liver it is converted into T3.

This is a big deal, because T3 is what gives you your mojo, it’s the active hormone, the energiser. A lack of T3 can leave you feeling fatigued, drained, possibly depressed…..if you have been there – you know the symptoms.

What I have found is that my T4 pills are not enough. My body was simply not managing to convert the T4 into that glorious and energising T3 and that left my energy levels incredibly low. So what to do?
Well, I believe the better your liver function is, the better your conversion will be and thankfully I was introduced to ways of healing this vital organ. And that, friends, will be covered in the next post. I hope you will join me.

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