Are you aware of the risks of having a fatty liver? Did you know it adversely affects your immune system? Your liver actually contains immune cells. If your liver is not healthy and not functioning well, you are at higher risk of immune system problems like infections, cancer and autoimmune disease. A healthy liver enables your entire immune system to work more efficiently.

Your liver carries out more functions in your body than any other organ. Your liver cells are called hepatocytes. They are responsible for the production of 80 to 90 percent of the circulating immune proteins in your body and the liver contains many immune cells inside it. A type of immune cell called Kupffer cells live inside the liver. They are a macrophage, meaning a white blood cell that engulfs and destroys foreign matter, toxins and worn out old cells. Another type of immune cell called Natural Killer cells also reside in the liver.

A healthy liver is very good at detecting, capturing, and getting rid of bacteria, viruses and large molecules that do not belong in your bloodstream.

Immune cells live inside your liver

Your liver must provide protection against infectious invaders and potentially cancerous cells while at the same time tolerating harmless substances produced during metabolism that you need for optimal function. The innate immune system is the first line of defence and helps distinguish between cells that originate from yourself and those that are invaders.

The adaptive immune system in your liver helps your body deal with a harmful substance like a viral infection such as a cold or flu, which causes the body to make antibodies. The liver filter (comprised of the reticulo-endothelial system) contains many immunologically active cells, acting as a 'sieve' for antigens carried to it from the intestinal blood. The liver filter is altered by many factors such as oxidative stress, smoking, alcohol, aging, diabetes and pesticides. An excessively permeable liver sieve plays a part in immune tolerance and cancer. Anyone with an immune system disease must improve their liver function to reduce the overload on the immune system.

Selenium enables efficient detoxification inside your liver

Selenium is a great detoxifier. This is because it is required for the production and action of glutathione peroxidase in the liver. Glutathione peroxidase is an antioxidant enzyme necessary for detoxification and protection of the liver against free radical damage.  This is why I have included selenium in the Livatone Plus formula. Some studies have shown that selenium levels appear to be severely depleted in patients suffering with liver disease, especially cirrhosis and different types of hepatitis.

Milk thistle helps regenerate damaged liver cells

Milk thistle (also known as St Mary’s thistle) helps reduce and normalize liver enzymes in patients with liver damage. The active component is called silymarin and is found in the clinically proven dose in Livatone Plus. It has antioxidant, anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, liver regenerating and immunomodulating effects. Silymarin behaves like a gatekeeper, protecting the liver from toxins and free radicals. Another important function of milk thistle is to increase your body’s production of glutathione, the master antioxidant and the one most present in the liver.

Fatty liver can make infections more dangerous

Those with liver disease are more vulnerable to infections, and if they do get an illness, are more likely to become severely ill.

Liver disease weakens the immune system's ability to fight off the flu virus and may limit the types of medication you can take to manage cold and flu symptoms. Even more serious, the flu can also actually make liver diseases such as cirrhosis worsen, or increase the rate of rejection or drug toxicity if you have undergone a liver transplant.

Many people who have a fatty liver do not know they have this problem, as there may be no symptoms, but an ultrasound scan of the liver will pick it up. If you feel unwell and/or are overweight and cannot lose weight, I recommend you have a scan of your liver. You do not have to drink any alcohol to have a fatty liver, and it is usually caused by excess consumption of foods high in carbohydrates. The herb milk thistle has evidence to reduce the inflammatory markers associated with fatty liver and also to repair liver damage. N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) is also beneficial for liver repair. For more information, see my book titled “Fatty Liver You Can Reverse It”

References:

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-immunol-051116-052415
https://www.wjgnet.com/1948-5182/full/v9/i17/757.htm

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

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