Liver for Life

The liver is one of the most important organs of the human body but no special care is taken for it. So what does the liver do? Situated in the upper right hand portion of the abdominal cavity, beneath the diaphragm and on top of the stomach, right kidney and intestines. It is dark reddish brown in colour and has multiple functions.

At any given point 13% of the body’s blood supply is found in the liver. Simply put the liver regulates blood chemistry and secretes bile to the pancreas and intestine. To simplify further all the blood that leaves the stomach or intestines passes through the liver and the liver processes the nutrients in this blood for use of the entire body.

Some important functions of the liver-

1.    Production of bile that helps break down fats

2.    Production of protein for blood plasma

3.    Production of cholesterol

4.    Conversion of excess glucose into glycogen which can be stored and later converted back into glucose

5.    Clearing of blood from poisonous substances

6.    Removing bacteria from the blood

Simple facts for parents to help them keep their kids liver healthy-

1.    The liver stores glucose for 4 hours so ensure that your kids eat every four hours.

2.    Breakfast is called so because the body breaks its fast after a night’s sleep, skipping breakfast is not helping the liver as it then has to use its stored glycogen to keep body healthy. Slowly if this continues then the liver is trained to store more and process less. So make breakfast a healthy habit.

3.    Avoid giving hard boiled sweets to kids as digestion of hard sugar bypasses the liver and so the more hard boiled sugar in your child’s diet, the more the liver is bypassed and it becomes sluggish.

4.    Drink enough water. Ensure that your kids drink water even while in school

5.    Eat healthy. Junk food is not helping the liver.

6.    Exercise for the liver so that your body is healthy and happy.

Love your liver and it will help you live longer.