Question on Fatty Liver Remedy

(June 15, 2011)

I have been diagnosed with alcohol induced fatty liver. I have stopped drinking and am taking milk thistle. From a yoga perspective what can be done?

The liver is the body’s production center for bile which is required to aid digestion. The liver also processes the fat and protein that you eat and another important function is it removes the toxins from your body, especially when you drink alcohol.

Let us look at the anatomy of the liver. It is located in the upper right of the abdominal cavity, on top of the stomach. This organ is reddish brown in color and roughly weighs 3 pounds. This organ secretes bile; metabolizes proteins, fats and carbohydrates; stores glycogen and vitamins; regulates the volume of blood and of course, removes waste matter and toxins. The liver plays an important role in digestion and the digestive system.

Did you know that the liver is the only organ in the body that can regenerate cells? As this organ even controls the volume of blood, it even kills the old blood cells in the blood. The liver is a very important organ. Liver disease is also quite common and due to inefficient functioning of the liver. A decreased liver function can also lead to hair loss. A scarred liver can lead to a loss of protein absorption, which in turn leads to hair loss.

The liver and its functions are crucial to the body because of the nature of their functions. Any chronic condition in the body can affect the health of the liver. Patients with diabetes, acne, thyroid, excess estrogen, coagulation and even cholesterol all are potential patients to suffer from liver disease. When the liver fails to clear the toxins, it can cause an increase in acne. Due to diabetes, patients are more prone to liver failure and liver cancer. Sometimes diabetes patients face an increase in cholesterol. Taking cholesterol reducing pills can lead to the presence of abnormal enzymes. If the liver does not work well, it fails to remove ammonia from the blood. High levels of ammonia can cause other medical complications and affect the brain. A scarred liver prevents the metabolizing of the thyroid hormone, therefore leading to thyroidism. Liver also reacts badly to constantly consuming copious quantities of alcohol. Excess alcohol has been known to causes liver cirrhosis. Even a badly functioning spleen is known to cause trouble to your liver. You can change your life to include healthy food and some amount of exercise to ensure that your liver works well.

Yoga is one of those all round health routines which can provide tremendous benefits including benefits for the liver. Yoga is today a very popular choice for health and to get a healthy lifestyle. The health benefits of yoga include improved mental and physical benefits. The asanas that help get rid of chronic diseases, improves concentration and leads to a calmer life. The benefits of yoga are many, especially for women. Women grapple with many emotional issues due to hormonal mismatches during puberty, menstruation and menopause. Men also benefit greatly from yoga as it improves concentration, focus and builds in flexibility.

Yoga is very simple to do. If you want to know how to do the various asanas, you have many choices like DVDs, local classes, classes at your gymnasium or even the internet. For the liver in particular there are many poses in yoga that you can learn how to do to improve the health of your liver. Some of the main poses are shavasana or the dead body pose, ardha matsyendrasana or the spinal twist, mayurasana trikonasana or the peacock pose. Other poses include vajrasana or the diamond pose, shalabhasana or the locust pose, halasana or the plow pose, padahastasana or the forward bend, abdomen lift and stomach lift. There are even yoga poses in Kundalini yoga that help right the function of the liver.

You can try different cleanses and detox diets to clean your body and the liver. A basic liver cleanse or a liver detox diet includes abstaining from alcohol, tea, coffee, fried and fatty foods, citrus fruits, bananas, carbonated drinks, and processed foods. Detox diets begin with a liquid diet and slowly move to simple and easy digestible foods. Nutritional deficiencies are quite common in people who suffer from liver disorders.

The health of the liver also plays a part in the health of the gallbladder. The liver and gallbladder cleanses and removes all build up of toxins and waste from the body. It is even called the liver and gallbladder miracle cleanse. In this cleanse, you take a combination of lemon juice and olive oil recurrently, for a few hours. This cleanse is taxing on the stomach and will need you to use the restroom quite often. You will find many alterations to this basic liver and gallbladder cleanse and should do enough research on it before you try one. Some of the other things you can use include apple juice, Epsom salts and coffee enemas. If you are diabetic or have other chronic problems, consult a doctor before you do a liver cleanse.

There is even the liver body type which indicates that the liver is not functioning properly. The person suffering from this develops a paunch or a pot belly but does not put on weight all over. People suffering from this, crave for fried and fatty food but their body is unable to absorb this fat. The treatment is to clear the body of toxins. Doing a cleansing may cause you to lose weight but in this case, it is not the goal. The aim is to make the liver fully functional again. Ideally you should cleanse your liver at least twice a year.

Another area where the liver can suffer is in the case of alcoholics. When alcoholics are put in treatment for the abuse of alcohol, they are given a drug that prevents the withdrawal symptoms. This class of drugs is called methadone. Despite popular myths, research has shown the liver conjugates methadone given for the treatment and does not damage the liver further. This methadone based program has shown great results for people who suffer from alcoholism.

Submitted by A on June 15, 2011 at 05:58

Fatty liver is more an obesity and diabetes related problem. It’s a good thing you’ve given up alcohol. For reducing fat from the liver I suggested you try all the practices given in this URL: http://www.yogawiz.com/health-issues-and-yoga/yoga-for-obesity.html

Submitted by A on September 7, 2007 at 04:48