A fatty liver

The liver is the second most largest organ in the body after the skin and one if the most delligent. When I was in high school, I was told by a biology teacher that the liver have almost 200 functions.

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Among these are glucose, lipid and protein metabolism, detoxification and cleansing if the blood. The liver is also site for the storage of vitamins and hormones. It also plays am important role in the digestion of fats through bile.

All these very important roles of the liver could be slowed down by the excessive deposition of fats on the liver. A condition known as steatosis.

As the name implies, fatty liver is a condition when the liver accumulates too much fat for it's own good. Although the liver have some fat tissues but when it goes beyond 10 percent, it leads to a problem. These are the fats that are taken from the blood by the liver and are supposed to be exported to other parts of the body for storage.

This condition is predominantly caused by an excessive intake of alcohol, and if the individual fails to abstain, a more dangerous ailment known as cirrhosis might happen.

You see the liver is a self generative organ. It naturally and constantly produces new liver cells that replaces the old and worn out cells. But in a case when damage is been continually done repeatedly to old cells by habits, there would be an imbalance between the building up process and breaking down process, leading to complications.

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A fatty liver could also be cause by excessive intake of foods and drinks that contains sugar, hence we all should be careful. This is because, just like any other chronic disease, fats could continue to pile up in the liver for w long time till it gets to a level where it becomes lethal. Diabetes and obesity could also make an individual predisposed to fatty liver disease.

When this happens, there could be an inflammation if the liver which would present itself as a pain in the upper right 25 percent of the abdomen. other symptoms would include a loss of appetite that could result in a progressive loss of weight, tiredness and jaundice.

So, how do we protect this very important organ ?

By regulating alcoholic drinks and soda. Also adding a generous proportion of vegetables to our daily diet could help keep the liver young and healthy. Vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce, cucumber have natural substances that have proved to be very efficient in detoxifying the liver.

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