All Hail the Liver!

Tisk, tisk, all this time you've been taking your liver for granted haven't you? Here it is, a quiet hero of your intestinal world - removing nutrients from your blood, converting fat and proteins into glucose, detoxing harmful substances like that questionable cheeseburger you just HAD to have at 2am last weekend, converting waste products into urea, storing vital minerals, producing bile, regulating your core body temperature, having to put up with that naggy old pair of neighbors, the gallbladder and pancreas, I could go on but the point here is that your liver is pretty freakin important and you should give it some love.

Like right now, let's give it a little appreciative rub n' stretch... i know you're sitting down so just lift both arms up and tilt to the left, then the right, and then the left again. This gives your liver, which is on your right side just below the diaphragm, a nice stretch. After that you can use both hands and rub the area just below your right rib cage with a circular and downward motion, this helps to stimulate the liver and lets it know that you haven't forgotten it like a grumpy old married guy who never takes his wife out anymore.

If you're not leading a healthy lifestyle and your liver wants to tell you that it needs some TLC it's not going to show you pain in that specific area, c'mon now your body is far more complex than that, your unhealthy liver could manifest as chronic indigestion, fatigue, a rigid or inflexible body, a distended belly, headaches, menstrual problems, skin disorders, muscular pain, tendon problems, dry eyes or weak vision, ringing in the ears, allergies, mood swings, depression, irritability, or a whole host of other uncomfortable ailments that you'll be too embarrassed to admit and will continue to ignore and hope it'll go away (though while the symptoms may come and go, if you don't treat the underlying imbalance it will continue to stagnate and demand more and more energy in it's habitual yen for homeostasis and will thereby weaken your metabolism and likely begin the process of disease).

SO, really, the best approach is to maintain a healthy liver by not overloading it with consumed toxins (regular air and consumer product pollution will still keep it plenty busy, just in case you're worried it might get bored). Here's how:

• limit your intake of foods high in saturated fat and oils (like meat, cream, cheese, eggs) and highly processed and refined foods (like pretty much everything in the middle isles of the supermarket that comes in flashy packaging).
• Include liver-stimulating foods in your diet, such as pungent foods, spices, and herbs like watercress, onion, mustard greens, turmeric, basil, fennel, ginger, dill, black pepper, horseradish, rosemary, mints, and lemon (don't go overboard though, if your logic is 'well, i'll just eat a fiery hot pepper and that should do it', because that would actually stagnate and damage your liver further).
• Eat raw foods, sprouted grains, beans, seeds, fresh vegetables and fruit EVERY DAY, yes EVERY DAY (raw foods have enzymes which aid the body immensely in the digestive process and overall metabolism)
• If you're trying to make up for a particularly icky meal of late then you can use the following to detoxify and cool the liver to reduce it's certain inflammation: celery, seaweeds (especially kelp), lettuce (red leaf is best), cucumber, watercress, millet, tofu, chlorophyll-rich foods (kale, spinach, most greens), mushrooms, radish, tomatoes, broccoli, bananas, melons, apples, and lemon.
• Make yourself a nice, relaxing, liver-cleansing tea with any of the following herbs (most are available at health food stores): dandelion root, ginger, uva ursi, rosemary leaf, burdock root, yellow dock, goldenseal, parsley, nettle, and especially milk thistle.

How do you know if your liver needs help? Well, if you eat a lot of processed and refined food and few raw veggies on a regular basis you can be sure that your liver is frequently inflamed, which is pretty much the initiation process for damaging tissue. You can also look at your tongue in the mirror, your tongue should be pink with a light white coating, if that coating is a thick white color and looks kind of gross then that's a sign that your liver is backed up and you should modify your diet.

Ok, you've read this far so I commend your dedication but now it's time to put that attention to the test and go get yourself some tasty sprouts!