Liver is the largest internal organ of human body and is critical to digestion of food, nutrition and detoxification. Nowadays Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is a growing health concern amongst women.
Hormones, primarily estrogen, play an important role in liver function. Estrogen has protective effects on the liver, it helps regulate bile production and also reducing inflammation. However, fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause tends to alter these mechanisms, increasing vulnerability to liver diseases. Postmenopausal women have 2.4 times higher chances of developing fatty liver disease. Decreasing estrogen levels during menopause can slow down metabolism leading to weight gain and insulin resistance, which are significant risk factors for fatty liver disease. Concerning part is that there are no major symptoms in the body before disease hits.
If you experience subtle symptoms like frequent eye infections; blurred vision; excess gas; bloating; itchy skin, loss of appetite, extreme craving for fried fatty foods, swollen feet, fatigue, spider skin, dark stools, easy bruising, find hard to process anger, restlessness and waking between 3-5am; then these indicate some sort of liver imbalance. NAFLD symptoms in women can get easily overlooked and include fatigue, unexplained weight gain, or mild discomfort in the upper right abdomen.
Whether you are currently struggling with low liver energy or want to act preemptively, loving your liver today will profoundly impact your overall health, well-being, and longevity for years to come.
Tips to enhance Liver function
Physical practices for liver health:
- Yoga: Twisting poses and deep breathing exercises
- Acupuncture: Specific acupuncture points are used to balance liver energy.
- Movement and exercise: You must do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Activities like walking, swimming, and cycling can be considered.
Dietary considerations:
- Pitta-balancing foods must be consumed; pitta-balancing spices and garnishes such as ground coriander, fresh coriander, fennel, cumin, turmeric, mint, and lemon can be taken.
- Bitter foods: Cooling and cleansing in nature, kale, beet greens are considered supportive of liver health and aid detoxification.
- Emphasize on the sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes, while abstaining/minimising the salty, sour, and pungent tastes.
- Consume Ghee as it is the easiest fat for the liver to digest and it also helps to restore enzymatic function. Organic sesame oil and olive oil help rejuvenate the liver
- Low-Carb Diet: Reducing carbohydrate intake can help in reducing liver fat.
Energetically healing liver
- Self-reflection: Pay attention to your emotions and refrain from holding onto anger or resentment.
- Journaling: Writing your emotions process them and release negativity.
- Creative expression: Engage in activities like art, music, or any hobby
- Mindfulness practices: Forest walk, Just be, Meditation and deep breathing helps
- Charged blue water can be taken
- Essential oils like orange, patchouli, and basil may help
Nutraceuticals to aid
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids – help reduce liver fat and inflammation.
- Vitamin E – help reduce liver fat inflammation.
- Milk Thistle – Known to improve liver function.
- Punarnavadi Kashayam – aids in reducing liver swelling and improve liver function.
- Homeopathic remedies for fatty liver include Chelidonium, Lycopodium, and Nux Vomica, which support liver health, improve digestion, and reduce liver inflammation.
Good part is that liver is a factory with the ability to regenerate and detox itself. But for it to repair itself efficiently, we must offer it periodic rest by fasting, keeping stress and anger away, eating liver friendly foods and exercising. In healthy individuals liver can regenerate up to half of its mass in about 30 days.
So be symptom aware and hear what the body is trying to tell you. Wellness and preventive care are good choices to keep oneself healthy. Get preventive health checks done regularly and any abnormal values must be understood and steps to correct them taken, it will help in treating condition in pre-clinical stages itself.
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