This Blog will be divided in 5 parts, and I will present the research that I have done about the Liver organ and to show how important it is to take care of it.
Herbal Formulas and TCM Dietetics Approaches to Balance the Liver – By Doctor Alex Sa Alves
Part II – The Biomedical and Chinese Medicine View of the Liver
The Biomedical view – How does the Liver works in the Body?
Based on the Book “Principles and Practice of Hepatobiliary Diseases” by Henryk Dancygier8, I made the following important points to consider:
1) Processing Fat and Protecting the Pancreas
Whenever the person eats fat, the liver releases bile to break it down and deliver the fat to the body as an energy source. This process looks simply but is more complicated than it sounds. Different amounts and complex compositions of bile are needed for different foods and different levels of fats, so the liver must draw on its powers of memory and adaptation to prepare and respond to fat intake at every meal. It is important to keep in mind that when bile raises, it helps momentarily, but it is not the ideal situation to happen repeatedly in the long run by consuming fatty foods. The liver tries to protect the body from excess fat because otherwise, the pancreas takes the lead and it is forced to produce much more insulin over time and eventually becoming overwhelmed in its hormone production and maybe even losing the ability to produce insulin at all which by conclusion without insulin, the body end up with diabetes.
- Glucose and Glycogen Storage
The liver stores most glucose as glycogen, in small or microscopic pockets of special storage tissue located around the outer side of the liver. This storage system is also how the liver stows away concentrations of other nutrients, as well as hormones, biochemical agents, and other chemicals compounds. Any helpful component that the body may need in a daily basis, the liver keeps in storage banks, where there are plenty of blood vessels ready for reabsorption when the brain or thyroid sends signals that they are needed. When that signal is released, the liver breaks down glycogen back into glucose, using stored water molecules combined with a chemical compound generating and releasing glucose into the bloodstream at a just the right balanced and measured levels. The liver also keeps some readily available glucose that is not stored as glycogen so it can be released even faster.
- Vitamin and Mineral Storage
The liver stores nutrients that the stomach and intestines have converted during digestion into forms that the body can use. Sometimes, other organs that belongs to the digestive system is in distress such as intestinal linings scarred and damaged by long-term, chronic strep; low hydrochloric acid causing bad acids to rise and create acid reflux; or intestinal inflammation from viruses, other pathogens, and the foods that feed them. When those situations happen, the gut is not capable of absorbing, altering, and delivering nutrients that are critical to life so the liver acts as a “backup conversion tool”. To keep the body alive, the liver overuses its conversion method. A strong liver is critical to gut’s health for reasons beyond nutrient conversion.
- Disarming and Detaining Harmful Materials
Liver is also about storage: because the more the liver’s storage banks are saturated and overcrowded with toxins that the liver has collected to save the body, the less room the liver has for vitamin and mineral storage. The liver gets faced with a decision: to keep the poisoning substances containment system in place protecting the body from it, or to let out the poisons so it can store more vitamins, minerals, and other valuable materials that can help repair the gut and the rest of the body. The final decision made by the liver results in saving the body from toxic matter. There is so much that Liver deal within this world: Viruses, bacteria, mold, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, engine oil, gasoline, exhaust fumes, plastics, synthetically scented products, toxic heavy metals, radiation, hidden ingredients, high-fat meals, high-stress jobs, and much more. It is a constant battle and the liver do everything to defend the body from those harmful substances.
- Screening and Filtering Blood
Liver is one of the busiest organs, with an entire highway of blood running through it. This blood passes through the liver, carrying nutrients from food, and filled with medicines that someone might take, the occasional alcohol someone may drink, toxic heavy metals and chemicals that might come into contact with someone, excess adrenaline that may constantly be up against, as well as various hormones, some of which come from toxic, detrimental sources and some that are essential for the liver to be able to mass-produce cells so it can mend and heal any of its burned-out tissue. Liver separates the bad from the good, the poisons, pathogens, and excess fat from the nutrients, essential hormones, and other beneficial elements that can help a person to thrive. Also, liver works to maintain the proper oxygen balance with so many different materials in the blood. All starts at the Hepatic Portal Vein with liver’s immune system guarding it. It is especially important that the liver do a good job of separating the beneficial from the toxic, because all that blood will be moving to the heart. The blood that reaches the heart should be clean, and it is if the liver is in good condition to get its job done. Liver uses all of its reserves and power to separate and dispose of toxic threats, knowing that if they escape, they can be harmful to the body. Liver buries the most toxic threats such as solvents and pesticides in its core and has a particular awareness that viruses must be harnessed deep inside, because that’s safer than viruses making a run for other organs such as the brain or the heart.
Liver – The TCM Pathomechanisms
Based on the Study of Doctor Thomas Chen3 on “The liver in Traditional Chinese Medicine”. He describes primarily the Yin and Yang pair to understand about the organ (liver). In his comments he said that Yin-yang represents a dualistic mode of viewing an organ and it can be described in both Yin and Yang context. The substance of the organ is either yin or yang in quality and its function is the opposite of the pair. Yin and yang are mutually opposing, interdependent and interchangeable attributes that can change over time and space. In medical words, yin-yang is often used to analyze the equilibrium of Qi. If there is an imbalance that will lead to signs and symptoms. Body function is affected by the five yin and six yang visceral organs. The five yin organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) and the six yang organs (gallbladder, stomach, small and large intestines, urinary bladder, and triple burner) are called tsang (depots) and fu (palaces), respectively. The metaphors of depots and palaces imply the functional roles of storage and consumption, respectively. In physiological terms, the yin viscera regulate and store vital substances and the yang viscera digest food to produce vital substances and excrete waste. The concept of normal qi provided the rationale for the diagnostic procedure of taking the pulse and the therapeutic measure of acupuncture. Examination of the pulse gives information on the circulating qi and, the status of the internal organs mentioned above.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practioners have been considered the liver, not as an anatomical entity with specific physiological functions, a model similar to the biomedical mind but rather, they conceived the liver as a system of correspondences, with relationships to other organs and to the natural order (Volker5, 2013). The liver serves as a material substrate that performs several functions. The liver and gallbladder work so closely which in the ancient books they considered as one unit. The Nanjing noted ‘. . . The liver weighs two catties and four ounces. It has three lobes on its left and four lobes on its right side, adding to seven lobes . . .’ See the picture bellow how they draw the liver according to Chinese Medicine:
At the physiological level, the liver plays several roles. First, it disperses the upward and outward flow of qi, thereby regulating its circulation. Second, it stores xue (‘blood’) and other vital fluids, thus controlling their flow. This storage role allows the organ in particular to maintain a special relationship with the eyes, its sense organ, nails, and muscle. In the clinical situation, examination of these sites provides a monitor of liver activity. Third, the liver controls bile secretion. This function is not mentioned in the ancient classical texts, but is latter acknowledged by authors in the Modern Chinese Medicine. (Kaptchuk TJ. The Web That Has No Weaver. New York: Congdon and Weed, 1983.).