Holiday Self Care: Love your liver

With the holidays coming up, it's actually a really good time to think about self care. Why? It's that time of year when there more parties, more rich foods, more alcohol, and more late nights. More family, more expectations, a little bit more of everything. It's also a really easy time to put to the side the daily healthy habits we tend to focus more on at other times of the year.

Don't get me wrong. I love the holiday season. I love gathering people together, breaking bread, spending time in the kitchen, making new memories and celebrating old traditions. I also like to try to continue to be mindful about what's happening around me, the choices I'm making, and what I'm taking in.

We digest everything that we take into our bodies, not just the food on our plates. The relationships, situations and events, medications, even the skin care or beauty products we use are all digested by our bodies, our minds, our emotions. Hopefully we're keeping the nourishing stuff in and eliminating the rest out!
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We have a few organs in our bodies that help with digestion and elimination, but today we're going to love on our livers. Why? The liver in the largest organ we have, coming in at around 2-3 lbs. Yup, that's right. We often think of it as a blood cleaner, but the in reality, the liver has over 200 different functions. Check out this cute and informative video below. 

In the video the happy little liver states it detoxifies, extracts nutrients and stocks vitamins. Let's dive a little deeper. 

1. Detoxify: Yup, your body is working on detox 24/7. There are lots of detox diets and harsh cleanses out there these days, but know that your body is working on detox all. the.time.
What does it detox?

• Things you ingest: processed foods , alcohol, caffeine, sugars, medication, to name a few
• Things you have in your environment: fragrances, cleaners, particles or chemical in the air (California we're thinking of you!) anything you breathe in or can absorb through your skin such as lotions or other skin care products go into your bloodstream and are then filtered by your liver. Also germs and pathogens! 
• Things your body makes: HORMONES! Our hormones are created by & cycle through our body when needed and are eliminated through the excretory system (aka the LIVER) too. When the liver is bogged down in detoxing all the other stuff, or it's not healthy and not functioning properly, guess what happens to those hormones? They stay in our system, causing hormone imbalances, mood swings, anger issues, and more. 

In terms of what gets passed on to our liver to process, we know our gut is the first line of defense against pathogens. 70%+ of our immune system is in our gut. Our liver is the second line of defense. Leaky gut is a hot topic lately, and many of us have gut or auto-immune issues, which often result in allowing more things to pass into our bloodstream, which then get processed by our liver.

Consider that the average person uses between 3-12 beauty products a day (hand soap, face soap, hair care, make-up, lotion, aftershave, cologne, etc). Also consider that there are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today, many without safety data. (source) Those are found in our skin care and beauty products, as well as our household cleaners (or those we encounter at restaurants, movie theaters,  the bus, light rail or airport). We're eating more processed foods, on the go, and taking more prescriptions than ever. That's a lot for the liver to process!

2. Extract Nutrients: This was a new one for me. I always thought this was the sole responsibility of our stomach and intestines.

• Our liver processes proteins, fats, & carbohydrates and, get this, decides what goes where. Crazy right?! If our liver is overloaded processing any of the toxins listed above, it prioritizes our health by shuttling excess toxins into adipose (read fat) tissue for safe-keeping so it keeps our toxin load low. (The solution to pollution is dilution?)

3. Stock Vitamins: This was new for me too! Boy our liver is busy. In a country that is seeing the highest instances of diabetes ever, this is a biggie. (source)

• Blood sugar regulation: the liver should have enough stores of glycogen/glucose to regulate our blood sugar, meaning help to keep it and our mood, steady throughout the day. However, if we go too long without eating, or over consume caffeine and sugar, all common in busy lifestyles or careers that require travel or long hours, we then have huge swings in our blood sugar. Or, if our liver isn't functioning effectively, it may not be regulating it's release of glucose. 

 

You might be wondering, what signs do our bodies give us that our liver might need a little more love? And how can we love on our liver a little more? Here are a few ideas to get your started. Now, these signs and symptoms don't necessarily mean that your liver is the ONLY thing in need of a little love, but it's a darn good place to start!

Signs and symptoms related to the liver

• Dry eyes, red irritated eyes
• Our liver stores a third of our blood within it, which it releases when we exercise, are in flight or fight situations, experience a severe injury. If you can’t tolerate exercise, get dizzy, light headed, short of breath, your liver is not keeping up with you. 
• Blood pressure swings
• Dry itchy skin or lots of rashes
• Excess weight gain
• Blood sugar swings. Liver produces glucose when you’re not eating, if you are freaking out between meals and have blood sugar swings, your liver might not be functioning well
• Thoughts spinning and racing

Whether you experience any of those, or simply want to be more proactive this holiday season, I've got some suggestions to share with ya. 

Good Daily Practices

• Probiotic - feed your gut health! The healthier your gut is, the better is breaks down the things we ingest, making it easier on the liver. A good probiotic should contain a pre-biotic.  PREBIOTICS are a special form of dietary fiber that acts as a fertilizer for the good bacteria in your gut. PROBIOTICS are live bacteria that help break down foods we ingest. We use PB Assist. 
• Herbs to support optimum liver function. We are detoxing all the time, that’s our liver’s job. So we can consciously support this 24/7 process! We use Zendocrine Complex in our home. It contains a blend of herbs specifically for the liver, and also our body's other means of detox - colon, kidneys, lungs and skin. 
• Glucose regulation. If you get shaky between meals, you might need to better regulate your glucose levels. You can do that by pairing your foods (not too heavy on sugar, fat or protein in any one meal), or using Slim and Sassy. You can put a drop on your tongue, add a drop to your water every day, and even rub Slim & Sassy over your liver.
• Digestive Enzymes. Two of the main underlying causes of poor digestion are the age-related decline of digestive enzymes and microbiome imbalances. If digestion is incomplete, the body cannot extract all the nutrients in our food. Aside from causing bloating and gas, this can lead to inadequate uptake of critical nutrients—and even malnutrition among older adults. We like to use Terrazyme after eating morning and evening.
• Intermittent fasting is an eating style where you eat within a specific time period, and fast the rest of the time. It can be healthy for pancreas and liver as it allows the body to process more than just the food we’re eating.
• Prolonged fasting is best done over night. Basically, you put off breaking your fast by holding off on breakfast until later in the morning. Generally this would be somewhere between  12 to 16 hours from dinner to breakfast​
• Essential oil liver support. Similar to the Zendocrine Complex, this blend of oils I like to call Liver Lover is helpful for daily use on the bottoms of the feet, over the liner, or up and down the spine. In a 10 ml roller bottle combine: 2 drops each Grapefruit essential oil and Slim & Sassy essential oil, 3 drops Zendocrine essential oil blend, and 5 drops Frankincense essential oil. Other essential oil options include:
  • Thyme (diluted) over the liver for mood support, especially where anger is involved. 
  • Geranium + Grapefruit essential oils over the liver or pulse points for gall bladder concerns

What oil, blend or supplement might you try to practice more self care this holiday season? Comment below and let us know! Want to bring some of these into your home this holiday? Schedule a personal appointment, send me an email, and check out my exclusive ​Healthy Weight Starter Kit!

May you have a lovely holiday season this year. May you feel good about what you're putting in, on, and around your body. May you love on your liver a little bit more, and may you have a healthy and happy holiday!