How to nurture and protect your liver

According to Ayurvedic principles, the liver is the principal site of agni (bodily fire) and provides energy for all other functions of the body. Similarly, in Chinese Medicine, the liver is responsible for the smooth flow of qi, or energy, around the body. There is no doubt that this, the largest internal organ, plays a crucial role in our health and wellbeing.

Not only is it the major fat-burning organ in the body, the liver is also responsible for maintaining blood sugar levels, storing important vitamins, iron and copper, regulating the proteins that cause the blood to clot when necessary and detoxifying harmful substances. Keeping the liver from becoming sluggish can be a preventive to a large number of ailments.

Sluggish liver

There are many signs that could indicate a sluggish liver. Some include:

• Digestive ailments: A sluggish liver can often correspond with a sluggish digestive system as agni plays a large role in digestion. Other digestive/liver-related ailments could include being overweight, having a sluggish metabolism, suffering from indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome and abdominal bloating.
• Moods: Unpleasant moods, particularly depression and a foggy head, often correspond to a sluggish liver.
• Frequent or chronic fatigue: too high an intake of saturated fats and not enough raw vegetables frequently leads to a sluggish liver and corresponding fatigue. * Allergies: If the liver is sluggish, allergies, including hay fever, skin rashes and asthma, can be either exacerbated or triggered.
• Headaches: Headaches that arise from a sluggish liver are all too often dealt with through the use of drugs, which only serve to increase the livers workload in breaking down drugs.
• Sugar cravings, hypoglycaemia or unstable blood sugar levels: Many people with a sluggish liver have little control over their addictive, compulsive sugar cravings and cannot do without their fix.
• An overburdened immune system: The liver and immune system are intimately connected. If the liver is sluggish, inevitably the immune system will be weakened and the body becomes prone to infections and illnesses.
• Coated tongue and bad breath: A healthy tongue, ayurvedically speaking, should be pink, clear and with no white coating. A coated tongue is often an indication of excessive toxins that the liver has not been successful in eliminating or reducing. (Use a tongue scraper, which you can buy in most Indian or natural health shops, to remove this layer on the tongue, both in the morning after brushing your teeth and at night.)