The liver keeps us clean on the inside and prevents dangerous chemicals
from ingratiating their way deeper into our bodies. The liver is the
gateway to the body and in this day and age has an enormous workload that
frequently overloads its detoxification systems. The liver must cope with
every toxic chemical in our food chain as well as excessive amounts of
unhealthy fats and animal protein that are ubiquitous in fast foods. Let
us examine in more detail the mechanisms by which the liver keeps our
internal body clean.
Let us examine in more detail the mechanisms by which the liver keeps our
internal body clean.
THE LIVER FILTER
If we examine the liver under a microscope we see rows of liver cells
separated by spaces called sinusoids. Sinusoids are structured like a
filter or sieve through which the blood stream is filtered. During this
process the filter removes unwanted particulate matter, microorganisms and
metabolic waste products. These noxious thing are ingested by specialized
cells in the sinusoids called “Kupffer cells” which break down and
destroy these things, rendering them harmless. The sinusoids and Kuffer
cells are like a “garbage disposal unit” inside the liver. Thus you can
see that the liver is the filter and cleanses the blood stream which is of
vital importance.
DETOXIFICATION PATHWAYS
Inside the liver cells (hepatocytes) we find sophisticated enzyme pathways
or chemical pathways that have evolved over millions of years, to
breakdown toxic substances. Every drug, artificial chemical, pesticide
and hormone is broken down or metabolized by these pathways inside the
liver cells.
Basically there are two major detoxification pathways inside the liver
cells which are called the Phase One and Phase Two pathways.
PHASE ONE
This is called the cytochrome P450 enzyme system where a liver cell takes
a toxic chemical and through a process of oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis
or hydroxylation turns it into a less harmful substance. During this
process oxygen free radicals are generated, so there is a need for
antioxidants, especially Vitamin C, to prevent cellular damage. For
efficient phase one detoxification to occur the liver requires adequate
amounts of the nutrients selenium, folic acid, vitamins B2, B3, B6,
phophatidyl choline and bioflavonoids. If these nutrients are lacking,
toxic chemicals will become far more dangerous. Fast foods and processed
foods are deficient in these vital liver nutrients. Thus although many
people are over-eating they are still suffering with malnutrition which
exacerbates toxic overload.
Dr. Sandra Cabot’s Liver Cleansing Diet reduces the toxic load on the
liver and also provides the vital nutrients required by the liver for
detoxification.
PHASE TWO
This is called the conjugation pathway whereby the liver cells add either
a glycine or sulphate molecule to a chemical to make it water soluble. It
can then be excreted from the body via fluids such as urine or bile.
Through conjugation the liver is able to turn drugs (xenobiotics and
hormones), neurotransmitters and phenolic compounds into excretable
substances. For efficient phase two detoxification the live requires
Vitamin E, carotene, sulphur containing amino acids (taurine, methionine,
cysteine), glycine, glutamine, choline and inositol. Cruciferous
vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts) are a good
source of natural sulphur compounds for the liver. These things can spike
up and support the phase two detoxification system. the liver cleansing
diet has been designed to support and enhance the phase one and two liver
detoxification systems.
If the phase one and two detoxification pathways become overloaded, there
will be a build up of toxins in the body. Many of these toxins are fat
soluble and incorporate their way into the fatty cell membranes where they
may stay for years, if not a lifetime. Some of these toxins, such as
pesticides, petrochemicals and aspartame are highly toxic to the nervous
system and endocrine glands producing chronic neurological and hormonal
dysfunction. They are also carcinogenic and have been implicated in the
rising incidence of breast, prostrate and brain cancer.
If the filtering and/or detoxification system in the liver are inefficient
this will cause harmful substances and micro-organisms to build up in the
blood stream. This will increase the workload of the immune system, which
may then become overloaded and hyperstimulated. This often is so in
symptoms of immune dysfunction such as allergies, inflammatory states,
recurrent infections, swollen glands, chronic fatigue or auto-immune
disease. These disorders are very common today and usually get treated on
a symptomatic basis with drugs. Unfortunately thousands of people visit
doctors everyday complaining of these symptoms and rarely does anyone
think of the liver. The simplest and most effective way to take the load
off the immune system, is to improve liver function.
Dr. Sandra Cabot has been able to help many people with chronic immune and
liver dysfunction through her LIVER CLEANSING DIET BOOK. In this book
she fully explains that you cannot have a healthy immune system if your
liver is dysfunctional. This is a revelation for millions of people
struggling with poor health.
End:
Dave: I will send this to lists it will help like MCS, Immune, CFIDS and
our Mission Possible list. I would put it on your web page under
detoxification of aspartame. Tell people they can get Dr. Cabots book by
calling 1 888 782-7014.
Dr. Cabot’s USA office is based with Donna Medoff in Scottsdale, Arizona,
9828 East Windrose Drive, Scottdale 85260. Her email address is
whantwrk@aol.com
Also put Dr. Cabot’s book under publications under books on aspartame with
(detoxification) on the side.
Those who know of lists this information may help can pass it on.