The Gut-Liver Connection

Did you know that your liver is responsible for more than 500 vital functions in your body? 

The liver is the primary detox organ because it filters out all the toxins and eliminates them from the body. It basically protects all other organs inside your body from being exposed to these nasty and harmful substances! 

Most people don’t pay attention to their liver just because it showed up as “good enough” in a blood test. However, just because liver damage didn’t show up on your annual routine checkup does not mean that it is working optimally. 

Functional medicine and integrative health are about optimal health, not just average health and this cannot be achieved by relying solely on conventional lab tests. Check out my previous blog post on why running blood work is not enough. 

If you’re looking to boost detoxification to help with inflammatory issues such as acne, skin rashes and water retention, then starting with the liver is the best way to go and as you’ll soon discover, optimising gut health is part of the equation.

THE GUT-LIVER CONNECTION

Your gut and liver are connected by the “portal vein”, a blood vessel that carries nutrients, toxins and even medications from the digestive system to the liver. 

Your liver will then separate the nutrients from toxins; nutrients will be absorbed by your small intestine and transported back to your blood circulation. The toxins are either contained or eliminated and this will depend on how well your body is detoxifying.

If your gut microbiome gets imbalanced, in other words, when the bad bacteria overwhelms the good bacteria, your liver will suffer.

FATTY LIVER & OVERALL TOXIC BODY

This is a liver problem that affects many people. Researchers were able to link fatty liver with leaky gut (aka increased intestinal permeability). When you have a leaky gut, your intestinal barrier becomes loose and it will unintentionally allow toxins and other harmful substances to leak into your bloodstream. 

Some will go to your liver and if it’s overwhelmed with toxins, especially lipopolysaccharides (endotoxins), it will trigger inflammation, liver damage, and an overall toxic body!

In a recent study, it was also found that imbalanced gut microbiota can cause fatty liver disease by producing compounds called “metabolites”. 

ENDOTOXINS & INFLAMMATION 

LPS toxins are produced by the bad bacteria in the gut such as E.coli. These endotoxins can then be absorbed into the bloodstream if there are gaps in the gut wall (aka leaky gut) and these are then transferred to the liver for detoxification. 

Unfortunately, if the liver is not functioning optimally and is already overwhelmed with synthetic hormones, pesticides, medications, alcohol and other toxins, the endotoxins are not detoxified causing systemic inflammation in the body.

BOTTOM LINE

Whether you’re suffering from actual liver diseases or not, the truth is that you need to optimise its function to live a long and healthy life.

Remember, a sluggish liver will not allow for proper daily detoxification and this will cause systemic inflammation in the body.

Skin issues such as eczema, acne, psoriasis, and rosacea are just some examples of how inflammation is manifested in the skin. Water retention, puffiness, and hormonal imbalances are also the results of systemic inflammation. All these chronic health issues have underlying root causes to it.

If you’re suffering from a wide range of health issues, my highest recommendation is to run a few functional lab tests and work with me directly. When there is data, there’s no more guesswork!

However, if you’re looking for a place to get started, my highest recommendation is my 21 Day Reset as this is the ultimate protocol for liver detoxification by taking it through two main processes. Once the liver is boosted, you can then make your way through my GI Protocol because, at this point, your liver would be prepped to detoxify all the harmful substances that are released as you heal your gut.