If you've been following me for a while, you'll notice that I often say the liver is my favourite organ. It's true, it's amazing and does so much more than people realize. It is also extremely resilient, you can damage it but it will keep trying to rebuild itself. I know this first hand. Much of my own homeopathic journey has been spent on repairing my liver.

My Story

Between painful scoliosis and horrible premenstrual symptoms from undiagnosed endometriosis, I took a lot of painkillers in my teenage years. My wake up call came one day after a hangnail bleed for hours, I knew I had to stop taking so many painkillers. Luckily for me my endometriosis like symptoms improved greatly after the birth of my first child and the scoliosis pain eased after I stopped growing and with proper chiropractic treatment and massage. I was able to stop taking painkillers, but the damage to my liver had been done. I battled anemia constantly. No matter how much iron I took, the different forms of it, the iron rich foods, I couldn't get my iron levels back up. I was tired, stressed and angry. My liver needed help.

What does your Liver do?

Your liver is a powerhouse. It is the master cleaner, filtering your blood, cleaning out toxins from junk food, alcohol, medications and pollutants. It is also a main component is orchestrating your hormones. The liver breaks down everything we absorb through ingestion, inhalation or through our skin. It communicates with other organs and glands to control the release of glucose, balances sex hormones, cortisone and thyroid hormones, it stores glycogen, manufactures estrogen and testosterone. The liver stores vitamins and minerals, produces bile, converts fats, protein and carbohydrates into nutrients and energy. It regulated insulin levels. It helps maintain proper fluid regulation within the body. The liver is essential for proper blood clotting, bone marrow production and immune function. It also regulates body cholesterol.

Every minute of every day, your liver is hard at work doing all those things for you. What have you done for you liver? Every time you eat junk food, drink alcohol, take medications or are exposed to toxins, your liver has to work even harder. It can get over burdened and not work as well as it should. Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is on the rise, and it's mostly because of our lifestyles and medication.

Signs of Impaired Liver Function

feeling excessively tired, without reason
weakness
easy bruising
loss of appetite
hormone imbalance, menstrual problems, erectile dysfunction
unexplained weight loss or gain
bloating, gassiness, constipation, nausea
pain or discomfort under the ribs on the right side
excessive sweating
confusion, trouble concentrating
excessive anger or personality changes
insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, diabetes
edema

To improve these symptoms you need to take better care of your liver. The liver is very good at repairing itself, you just need to give it a break and give it what it needs to rebuild. The easiest place to start is on your plate.

Foods to support the Liver

lemon, lime
artichoke
asparagus
eggplant
celery
strawberry
currants
lettuce, leafy greens
onion, garlic
grapefruit
apple
prunes
grapes
rhubarb
beetroot
brussel sprouts
green tea
Spices: rosemary, sage, turmeric
Herbs: milk thistle, dandelion, olive leaf extract

Eating well to support your liver is a great place to start. But what if you need more help? When working to improve liver function I often focus on cleanses, supplements and often heavy metal detox. Homeopathic medicines are excellent at helping the body repair the liver. One of my most used liver remedies is Lycopodium Clavatum, the little club moss.

Homeopathy

Homeopathic remedies can be used in many different ways. They can be prescribed to support a specific organ or to do a specific job, such as improving drainage.

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The wonderful thing about homeopathic medicines is they can be used for many different things. Each remedy has multiple uses. S Homeopathy works best when treatment is individualized to your specific needs. Contact Lisa to see what will suit your body best.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only. For treatment please seek a qualified health care provider.