Natural Insight
Don’t Be a Lilly-Livered Lilly
By Sabeen Faquir
Did you know that everything you ingest, gets processed by your liver, including medications? It’s no secret that the typical American diet is predominantly made up of refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, and sugar – lots and lots of sugar. Well, what happens to your liver when you ingest so much sugar?
After you’ve swallowed your bite or sip, it travels from your mouth, through your esophagus, to your stomach, where it is met with acids that break it down into different forms of chemicals. This mix then travels to the small intestine, and is met with bile from the gall bladder. This is where nutrients are finally absorbed. The thing is, if your diet is predominantly refined carbs and sugars, your blood sugar level spikes.
Insulin is excreted from the pancreas and sequesters blood sugar into the liver. But, if there is too much sugar to store, it deposits as fat on your liver. If fat takes up more than 5%-10% of the liver’s weight, you may be diagnosed with fatty liver disease. Predominantly, there are 2 forms of fatty liver disease: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Medically, fatty liver disease has no specific treatment. Should you be diagnosed with NAFLD, you will be told to change your diet. It is suggested to “Eat a balanced and healthy diet and get regular exercise. Limit high-carb foods such as bread, grits, rice, potatoes, and corn. And cut down on drinks with lots of sugar like sports drinks and juice, (WebMD).”
For additional support, there is a nutrient you can consider: Milk Thistle extract. What is milk thistle? It is a plant in the daisy and ragweed family that is used to help support the livers of people ailing with problems like cirrhosis, jaundice, hepatitis, and gallbladder disorders. Silymarin is the constituent flavonoid complex from which milk thistle derives its benefits.
Silymarin works in a variety of ways. It is known to boost defensive enzymes like glutathione. This is significant because glutathione binds to toxins to prevent them from processing in the liver. In addition, silymarin prevents the formation of 5-lipoxygenase, a pro-inflammatory enzyme (Phaneuf). Silymarin is also a potent antioxidant that improves insulin resistance in patients with NAFLD (Federico et al).
It is important to know that there are conflicting studies on the benefits of milk thistle. Some studies indicate benefits while other studies show no differences. Milk thistle is widely recognized as safe to ingest. However, before beginning any supplement regimen, discuss it with your doctor.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure disease.
Sources:
Steinbaum, Suzanne R. MD. Milk Thistle: Benefits and Side Effects. WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/milk-thistle-benefits-and-side-effects#1. January 23, 2017
Phaneuf, Holly, PhD. Astragalus. Herbs Demystified: A Scientist Explains How the Most Common Herbal Remedies Really Work. Da Capo Press. 2005. Pg 230-234
A Federico, M Trappoliere, C Tuccillo, I de Sio, A Di Leva, C Del Vecchio Blanco, and C Loguercio. A new silybin‐vitamin E‐phospholipid complex improves insulin resistance and liver damage in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease: preliminary observations. Gut. 2006 Jun; 55(6): 901–902.