liv-er class 101

LIVER & GALL BLADDER:

The liver is definitely the most vital organ. In Chinese medicine the heart pumps the blood, but the liver is the body’s primary distributor of the blood. Via the vascular bed network, the liver responds to the demands of the body by shifting blood to the area of demand such as the stomach when eating or the legs when running a marathon. The liver also stores glycogen (blood sugar) and insulin (produced by the pancreas) and releases them as needed and signals the adrenal glands to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure. It regulates the hormones in the blood and the cycle of menstruation. It regulates fat metabolism and manufactures cholesterol. There are hundreds of chores the liver has in the body. However, its primary function is to filter the poisons in the bloodstream, neutralize them and send them on to the other organs of elimination. If the other organs are not properly functioning, it causes an overload on the liver and the poisons have to pass through the liver a few more times to be neutralized. This allows for a great deal more damage to the cells of the body by repeated exposure until the liver neutralizes the poisons. This extra strain reduces the liver’s capacity for its other jobs contributing to imbalanced levels of cholesterol, hormones, blood sugar, blood pressure and more that can develop into serious and often fatal degenerative diseases, like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc. This could be why it is called the “liv-er.”