General Health Tips » What Does The Liver Do: Health Tips

Oligosaccharides and Dietary Fibers and Treatment of Liver Disorders

admin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:31:58 +0000

General health tips on liver disorders wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t talk here about the importance of dietary fibers and oligosaccharides for liver health. Such liver disorders like acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis progress with marked pathologic shifts in intestine microflora – there is a lack of obligate microorganisms and an increase of pathogen microorganisms in large intestine.

Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics are used to enhance normal functioning of resident microflora.

The latter regulates production of toxins in intestine preventing their excessive accumulation and entry to blood flow. As a result of metabolism of probiotic microorganisms characterized by detoxicative and proteolytic features, proteolysis of endotoxins, allergens and antigens takes place in intestine. Dietary fibers, being sorbents and nutritious substance for intestine microflora, play an important role in people’s meals. Oligosaccharides (prebiotics of in vivo group) are utilized by healthy intestine microflora and increase selectively its population.

Thereby, bioactive substances are very important in treatment of liver disorders. However, one suffering from liver disorders should strictly follow his/her doctor’s advice as for the daily rate of bioactive substances to take. Let your liver be healthy!

Trace Substances and Phytogenous Bioactive Substances Vs Liver Health Problems

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:46:57 +0000

As other substances introduced in the general health tips earlier, such trace elements like selenium and zinc also help fighting liver health problems. They act as antioxidants preventing or lessening hazard effects or the influence of viruses on liver cells.

Phytogenous bioactive substances have also been used effectively in treatment of liver health problems. This is explained by presence in plants of such bioactive substances as alkaloids, glycosides, phenol compounds, essential oils, pigments, organic acids, etc.

Let’s consider, for instance, the way glycyrrhizin is used in treatment of liver health problems.

Glycyrrhizin is the main component of perennial herb licorice (or, Glycyrrhiza). For a long time the extract of this plant has been used in oriental medicine. The positive effect of glycyrrhizin consists in its influence on the main components which lead to hepatitis B and C. When these liver health problems take the form of viral aetiology, glycyrrhizin has direct antiviral effect that consists in blocking of the first phases of virus replication. Interferon production and interleukin activity is increased, as well as lymphocyte activity; anti-inflammatory effect is developed; the risk of the progressing form of cirrhosis is decreased. Being an antioxidant with antitoxic properties, glycyrrhizin is also effectively used in treatment of toxic liver health problems that are caused by toxic agents, taking drugs, or alcohol.

It’s impossible to consider all positive effects of trace and phytogeneous bioactive substances in one article. Still, I hope that I managed to assure you that the substances are rather important in treatment of liver health problems.

Human Health: Liver Health Care and Vitamins

admin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:44:58 +0000

It is a common knowledge that vitamins benefit people’s health and liver, in particular. Consider the general health tips below and you will learn about the role of vitamins in human health and liver health care.

Vitamins C (ascorbic acid), E and N are the most useful ones for healthy liver. Being antioxidants, these vitamins also enhance antitoxic function and improve immunity.

Vitamin C is a strong water-soluble antioxidant that functions both in and out of cell. Being a great source of electrons, ascorbic acid can share electrons with free radicals, thus decreasing their reactivity. Vitamin C can also protect other antioxidant from oxidation (for instance, vitamin E). Antitoxic effect of vitamin C at different liver diseases consists in stimulation of different enzyme systems in human body and, first of all, in liver. These systems are responsible for detoxication.

Protecting immune system, vitamin C helps fighting infection by fostering antibodies’ activity and activity of immune system cells (lymphocytes and macrophages).

Vitamin E also benefits liver health. It hampers and inhibits peroxidation of lipids and polyunsaturated fat acids that constitute a part of cell membrane. Reacting with phospholipids of biological membranes, vitamin E affects liver cells structure sustaining integrity and stability of intracellular membranes and hepatocyte shells.

As well as the two mentioned above vitamins, vitamin N is also an antioxidant, it captures free radicals. It is also characterized by detoxicative effect. Being a complexon, it helps cleaning the organism from mercury, arsenic, copper, thus reducing concentration of toxic products of alcohol metabolism, and reducing toxic effect of chemotherapeutical drugs.

Therefore, liver health benefits a lot from taking vitamins C, E and N. One taking them improves general health and liver health, in particular.

Phospholipids and Liver Health Care

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:16:45 +0000

In the general health tips below I will consider phospholipids and the way they are related to liver health care.

Phospholipids are the main lipidic constituents of cellular membrane. They perform a number of functions in a human body. The basic ones are structural function, the function of enzyme system stimulation, participation in molecular transport processes, cell division, cell maturing and differentiation. Effects of pathogenic factors (like toxic agents, viruses, free radical reactions) on mitochondrial and cytoplasmic membranes lead to misbalance in intracellular metabolism and cell ruin.

Phosphatidylcholine contains the greater part of all phospholipids that liver cells contain. Nowadays essential phospholipids are used for reconstruction of hepatic membrane. They are collected out of soys using refinement technology. At exogenous introduction, essential phospholipids become a part of membranes of damaged hepatocytes, increasing their fluidity and flexibility that contributes to activation of membrane dependent processes in liver metabolism. The main clinical effects of liver health care with the help of phospholipids are:

Lowering of liver’s expenditure of energy level;
Normalization of liver functions and ferment activity of hepatocytes;
Reconstruction and retention of the organ’s structure and phospholipids dependent enzymatic system;
Conversion of neutral fats and cholesterol into forms facilitating their metabolism;
Stabilization of physicochemical properties of bile;
Normalization of lipids and proteins exchange and liver’s detoxicative function;
Retardation of connective tissue’s growth in liver in case of hepatocirrhosis progress.

Thus, the importance of the use of phospholipids in liver health care cannot be overestimated.

How Acids and Their Derivatives Promote Liver Health

admin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:43:20 +0000

The main acids and their derivatives that promote liver health are branched-chain amino acids like valine, leucine, isoleucine, arginine, ornithine, aspartate, S-adenosylmethionine.

There exist several ways to use branched-chain amino acids to promote liver health. When serious pathologic disorders happen, they damage hepatobiliary system and oxidation activity of the main energy sources decreases. This leads to a lack of the main substrates in the human body, as only 30-40 % of vital energy can oxidize by means of amino acids oxidation in other organs and tissues.

Meanwhile, protein catabolism increases and body weight with sick people decreases intensively. On the other hand, in the course of liver disease, concentration of aromatic amino acids in blood plasma increases which leads to various central nervous system diseases and portal systemic encephalopathy. Introduction of branched-chain amino acids removes imbalance, benefits those suffering from portal systemic encephalopathy and promotes liver health in general. Branched-chain amino acids can promote protein synthesis in muscles and liver, can reduce its catabolism thus decreasing negative nitrogen balance. Leucine is produced by Kupffer cells which proves direct influence of branched-chain amino acids on tissue cells.

Let’s consider some branched-chain amino acids that promote liver health.

Arginine is characterized by a great protecting power when different liver diseases develop. First of all, this amino acid plays a leading role in nitrogen metabolism contributing to the urea cycle. Therefore, arinine use is rather important for treatment of different liver diseases that are normally accompanied by its detoxicative function. Particularly, at viral hepatitis, arginine benefits immune system increasing number of T- lymphocytes and their functional activity.

Ornithine and aspartate function in the same way as arginine does. They enhance liver detoxicative function by entering the urea cycle. Moreover, aspartate can bind ammonia in organs and tissues, mainly in liver and brain, through glutamine synthesis.

You are welcome to read the general health tips that follow to learn more about bioactive substances that promote liver health.

Bioactive Substances Improving Liver Health

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:30:13 +0000

Studying of problems related to liver health is of much social importance. Different diseases affecting liver health, like cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, liver failure, malignant hepatoma, are among the most common causes of disability and death. On the assumption of this, a number of general health tips below will be concerned with liver health. In particular, I will consider different bioactive substances improving liver health, such as amino acids and their derivatives, vitamins, macro- and microelements, herbal bioactive substances, etc. Overall, I will conclude that being used in manufacture, food supplements or food stuffs of medical and prophylactic feed, bioactive substances are very effective in improving liver health.

Liver plays a leading role in the processes of transformation, accumulation, and synthesis of proteins, fats, bioactive substances, etc. Passing through bowels, foodstuffs enter liver wherein they undergo certain changes. Liver performs barrier and protective function by neutralizing toxins of different types. Keeping of the vital functions on a constant level and a neutralizing function are the most important and closely interconnected lines of liver activity. Pathological changes in liver functions and structure arising with liver diseases can lead to metabolic imbalance and abnormalities in immune system.

Nowadays there exists a great number of medicines for pharmacological treatment of different liver diseases depending on causative agent, pathogenesis peculiarities and clinical presentations. Some of them can cause different complications and allergic reactions, therefore, they have a rather limited use. Recently there emerged a new tendency in medical science development – it is concerned with use of bioactive substances and their systems in food supplements or food enrichment with medical and prophylactic purposes. Such substances improving liver health and possible mechanisms of their action will be discussed in my next posts.

The Liver and How Important It Is. Supplements for Liver Health

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:05:07 +0000

If you remember in the Emotional Health Tips I wished troubles never entered your life. I really want everyone to be happy but want to emphasize on the fact that this happiness often depends on us. I do not intend to go into philosophical thoughts of happiness here; I will speak of the health as an integral component of this happiness. To be more exact, I will speak of liver health. The topic choice is explained by the importance that this organ has for human health.

The liver performs a number of functions in human body. Dietary functions and the functions of filter are among the most important ones. Unfortunately, a sad statistics shows that liver failure is one of the main causes of people’s deaths in the USA. The thing is that most people do not realize that they are damaging their livers and keep doing this until something irreversible happens. Still, every individual can control one’s lever health by making appropriate changes in nutrition and using supplements for liver health at times.

However, people should consider their needs carefully before using the first supplements for liver health they can buy. A diet should provide all the needed nutrients. When it fails to do so, one should resort to supplements for liver health. A liver friendly detox diet is highly recommended. Herbal supplements for liver health help to unclog the liver and help its cells regenerate. Taking multivitamin approved by FDA is needed to restore the damages caused to liver. Overall, it is necessary to consult a doctor before resorting to supplements for liver health. Take care of your liver and be healthy!