Despite being an organ that performs countless essential functions, the liver is often neglected. A mistake not to be made. Let’s see why and how to keep it healthy.
The liver is the largest and one of the most complex organs of our body, although we often tend to underestimate its importance. This is partly because the liver does not show signs of itself even when it is damaged for 70 percent of its extension.
Not only, in fact, it manages to cope with its duties even when it is very compromised, but inside it lacks pain receptors and it is therefore difficult to understand early that something is not going as it should.
Let us try, therefore, to know it better and to learn what to do so as not to damage it.
A specialized chemical laboratory
Defining what the liver is is not simple. From an anatomical and functional point of view it can be considered a gland as many of its activities consist in synthesizing, storing and secreting substances.
To all intents and purposes, however, it behaves above all as a “highly specialized chemical laboratory”, a less orthodox definition, but certainly fitting with what is its true activity as a multifunctional center.
All the molecules that are produced or introduced into the body sooner or later must, in fact, deal with the liver to be metabolized, modified and then put back into circulation or eliminated forever.
The anatomy of the liver
It is no coincidence that it is at the center of our body, even physically: it is located at the upper end of the abdomen (a little off-center on the right) between the diaphragm and the stomach and intestines. A position protected, at least partially, from possible blows.
In the adult it reaches 1,200-1,500 grams. It is divided into two lobes, right and left and is covered by a casing of connective tissue which forms septa that penetrate inside by dividing it into numerous formations called hepatic lobules that are the true functional units of the organ.
75% of the blood that reaches the liver is venous and comes from the gastrointestinal tract and spleen. It is poorly oxygenated blood but rich in nutrients introduced with the diet that the liver has the task of metabolizing or storing as needed.
The oxygen-rich arterial blood which, as with all organs, is necessary to keep its cells vital provides the remaining 25% of the total blood supply to the liver.
Main activities
In a nutshell, the functions of the liver can be divided into:
| Homeostasis | Regulation, synthesis and secretion of substances important for the stability of the normal physiological conditions of the organism |
| Storage | Storage and metabolism of important nutrients, such as glycogen (used as “fast-use energy” for the body), proteins, fats (lipids) and vitamins |
| Filter | Metabolism and excretion of waste products, drugs and toxins |
As for the substances produced, we cannot fail to mention bile first, which is transported and stored in the nearby gallbladder (or gallbladder) from where it is released into the intestine if necessary, to promote digestion and absorption of fats and food vitamins A, E and K.
In addition to bile, the liver also produces glucose, some lipids and proteins.
The fundamental function in carbohydrate metabolism is to keep blood glucose values constant by storing glycogen or splitting it quickly and introducing glucose into the blood, in relation to the needs that the body presents from time to time.
Among lipids, the liver synthesizes the much-maligned cholesterol which, however, is essential to maintain the integrity of cell membranes and for the synthesis of bile and lipoproteins that circulate in the blood transporting cholesterol and fatty acids (a source of energy) between the liver and other tissues and vice versa.
Of the proteins it must be said, however, that most of the plasma ones (with the exception of antibodies that are produced by the cells of the immune system) are synthesized and secreted by the liver.
Among these it is important to remember albumin and most of the proteins responsible for blood coagulation (coagulation factors) which, if deficient as in many liver diseases, can lead respectively to edema (swelling due to the stagnation of liquids in the interstitial space) or massive hemorrhage even for mild trauma.
As far as storage function is concerned, in addition to glucose (in the form of glycogen), the liver also stores fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K), folate, vitamin B12 and minerals, such as copper and iron.
The liver then plays a key role in the metabolism of most hormones and drugs by activating them for their functions or degrading them to make them unusable when they are no longer needed.
An excellent sweeper
However, the function that gives a better idea of the vital importance of the liver is undoubtedly that of metabolism and excretion of substances that can be toxic.
The liver metabolizes alcohol and poisons ingested even accidentally with food, transforming them into compounds less harmful to the body and removes substances from the blood such as ammonia (which derives from protein metabolism but is toxic especially to the brain) and bilirubin, a yellowish pigment coming from the degradation of hemoglobin contained in red blood cells, eliminating them with urine and in the intestine together with bile.
This function, however, exposes it to suffer first the actions of harmful agents that can be neutralized up to a certain point. For this reason, it is always good to be careful about what you introduce and, in the case of substances that can overstrain the liver (first of all alcohol, substances of abuse and many drugs), limit the quantities as much as possible.
Joycelyn Elders is the author and creator of EmpowerEssence, a health and wellness blog. Elders is a respected public health advocate and pediatrician dedicated to promoting general health and well-being.
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