043 - Your Amazing Liver

Your liver is seriously pretty amazing. I'm a 'mechanisms' kind of guy, and the liver is the king of mechanisms, including:

- The liver is crucial for metabolism, regulating blood sugar, lipid, and protein metabolism.
- The liver participates in immune surveillance and pathogen clearance, and is intimately connected with the gut.
- The liver performs "hepatic biotransformation", or transforming toxins into things that can be excreted, aka DETOXIFICATION.

The liver can be damaged by many things including lifestyle, alcohol, viruses, parasites, and especially toxins. As liver damage progresses, the liver becomes more congested, toxins begin to accumulate, and metabolic dysfunction can follow. Liver damage is generally a spectrum of worsening fibrosis, and often starts with "fatty liver" and then progresses toward cirrhosis, which is liver scarring. Liver damage can be detected by several labs, and I discuss these labs in detail.

In the liver there are many functions, but this podcast focuses mostly on hepatic biotransformation, or detoxification. This includes Phase 1 and Phase 2 of liver detox, cytochrome P450, and includes processes like methylation, sulfation, conjugation, and more. These processes require many cofactors such as B vitamins and amino acids, and I discuss these all in detail.

There are also many genetic mutations that can affect liver and detoxification, so I discuss these as well, along with the common and popular liver supplements and what their mechanisms are. All together this is a comprehensive overview of everything I know about the liver and how I use that information clinically in helping sick people get well!

Youtube video about Liver, Carnitine, and Depression....