Maintaining a Healthy Liver

You can do your liver a big favor by not abusing alcohol, eating a healthy diet and keeping your weight level in an appropriate range. Are there other ways to help keep your liver running smoothly? Health researchers have determined some herbal substances that may be beneficial for your liver.  Although they are natural, these herbal substances may react dangerously with some medications and certain health conditions. Always talk to your chiropractor before using supplements and herbal remedies.

Milk Thistle

The tall milk thistle plant has been used for medical purposes for thousands of years. Physicians in ancient Rome and Greece used the seeds from the milk thistle’s fruit to detoxify the liver and to treat snake bites. Today, healthcare practitioners prescribe it for cleaning your liver and reducing damage from alcohol and some chemotherapy medications. The most powerful therapeutic ingredient in milk thistle is silymarin, which is a robust antioxidant.

Turmeric

Part of the ginger family, turmeric is a spice widely used in India, especially in curried foods. But it also has a long history of medicinal use in India and Chinese traditional medicine. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric that delivers most of this spice’s medicinal properties. Like silymarin in milk thistle, curcumin is a strong antioxidant. Throughout its long medical history, turmeric was prescribed for liver disease, flushing out toxins and soothing digestive disorders. Turmeric is available in supplement form, such as capsules, tablets and tinctures.

Dangers to the Liver

Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death from disease in North America. Cirrhosis is a progressive condition where scar tissue overtakes normal liver tissue. The overwhelming cause of cirrhosis is alcohol abuse, although other causes, such as hepatitis, fatty liver (see below) and environmental toxins, can spur cirrhosis. As the scarring destroys healthy tissue, the liver starts to malfunction. Making lifestyle and dietary changes can help slow damage. In serious cases, a liver transplant is required.

Fatty Liver Disease

This condition has seen a dramatic rise in our population, and the obesity epidemic can take part of the blame. Fatty liver occurs when this organ is overwhelmed by fat, and its proper function is affected by inflammation. Without medical intervention, this can progress to liver cirrhosis, and even life-threatening liver failure. Alcohol abuse contributes to creating fatty liver as do metabolic problems, gastric bypass surgery and some medications. However, the increasing rate of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease – where alcohol abuse is not a factor – is often associated with excessive body fat.

Hepatitis

The two types of this viral infection that affect the liver most significantly are hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Hepatitis B does not always show symptoms. It is spread through contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids. A long term infection of hepatitis B can harm the liver. Hepatitis C is spread through blood and not by sexual contact. If an infected person progresses to the chronic type of hepatitis C, liver damage can be severe. Like hepatitis B, this type of hepatitis does not always show symptoms; the disease can easily go undiagnosed for years. Blood tests can detect hepatitis.

Your Liver And You

When it comes to keeping our internal organs healthy, we usually hear lots of advice for the brain and heart. We do not hear too much information on how best to take care of our liver. Although it may not have a high profile in the health media like the brain and heart do, our liver is extremely important to our survival.

The liver performs a number of important functions:

• Filters blood and remove toxins

• Produces substances important for blood clotting

• Stores nutrients for future use

• Processes medicine

• Breaks down saturated fat
It is impossible to live without a liver (except on short-term liver dialysis), as its functions are unique and play a major role in the body's metabolism.

The Benefits of Stretching

Stretching is integral to your health, as it helps maintain proper mobility, alignment and function. Although there are a number of stretching techniques that have developed over the years, there are two basic stretching protocols: dynamic and static.
Dynamic stretching involves movement to increase range of motion (like performing arm circles). Static stretching involves little or no movement while increasing your end-range (holding a stretch). Static stretching usually involves a more relaxed mindset and can be considered more effective for postural muscles. Dynamic stretching is more commonly used before strenuous exercise. There are also stretching techniques such as PNF, whereby muscles are stretched immediately following a strong contraction - taking advantage of neuromuscular reflexes to achieve better results.
Regardless of which technique is used, the goal is always the same: warm up the muscles first with some gentle calisthenics, then bring the target muscle into an elongated position and encourage it to stay there. As the muscles are trained to stay in their lengthened position, less pressure is exerted on the joints, and a more natural, balanced state will be achieved in the musculoskeletal system.

Muscle Problems

Although a certain degree of tension in a muscle is necessary, too much tension can create imbalance, functional restrictions and/or pain. Whether it is caused by stress, overuse, repetitive strain or acute trauma, abnormal muscle tightness is unhealthy for your body. It places an excessive amount of stress and strain on the joints involved, predisposing them to arthritis and early degeneration. In addition, many nerves and blood vessels pass directly through muscle. If the muscle is too tight, this can irritate the nerves or compress the blood vessels, causing numbness, tingling, pain or decreased circulation.
 
Problems in muscles are usually quite obvious, as direct touching of the affected areas is usually uncomfortable for the patient. Tight muscles located in your spine may contribute to vertebral subluxations. Misalignment of the vertebrae is particularly damaging, as this can cause irritation of the nerves exiting the spine. This can further disturb normal muscle function, leading to more symptoms. Thankfully, chiropractic adjustments are particularly effective at reducing nerve irritation caused by spinal joint dysfunction!

The Musculoskeletal System

Your skeleton is a collection of over 200 bones that give your body its shape and structure. In between adjacent bones you have joints, and holding the joints together, are ligaments. These are what gives your body support, protects your vital organs, and allows for the foundation around which movement occurs.

The skeletal system is a static structure on its own. However, when you add muscles you create a dynamic, functional musculoskeletal system capable of performing work, maintaining an upright posture, transporting your body from one place to another, and allowing for personal expression using language and gestures.

With few exceptions (like the movement of the eye or tongue), a muscle attaches to two separate bones. As it contracts and shortens, the muscle creates relative movement of these bones by bringing the two ends of the muscle closer together. The coordination of muscles turning off and on allow for the complete range of human performance. Examples include the powerful, explosive movements created by a sprinter’s legs, or the delicate, intricate finger movements of a professional violinist. This coordination is facilitated by a constant loop of feedback messages among the muscles, the nerves and the brain.

Multivitamins and Disease

Multivitamins are a long-time staple in the ever expanding world of supplements. They have been around for decades and have been the subject of much debate among health researchers. Can multivitamins actually help prevent serious diseases? The debate is still not over. However, most health professionals agree people in North America do not eat enough healthy foods and frequently fail to meet their daily minimum nutritional requirements. Studies show calcium, magnesium, vitamins C, D and E are especially low in our population.

The support for daily multivitamin use is confirmed by a number of well-regarded medical institutions, including the Harvard Medical School. In an article that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Harvard medical specialists commented that low nutrient intake increases the risk of long-latency deficiency diseases, including cancer,cardiovascular disease and neurological problems. Taking a multivitamin with minerals has proven effective at protecting health in numerous studies. Research reveals consistent multivitamin use may help your body by reducing inflammation, cutting the risk of chronic disease, boosting the immune system and protecting neurological function.

However, the National Institutes of Health responded to the Harvard article by cautioning people that more research is needed, and taking a multivitamin does not guarantee protection from developing serious diseases. Also, multivitamins do not contain fiber and some other beneficial plant nutrients, which is why eating plenty of healthy whole foods is important. Of course, it is also important that you exercise and maintain an appropriate weight level.