Your Liver Is The Protector Of Your Immune System

Your liver burns fat and cleanses your bloodstream, but did you know it’s also responsible for keeping your immune system strong? The liver protects your immune system from overload and damage.

Your liver performs more functions in your body than any other organ. The liver holds around 15 percent of the body’s blood supply at any given moment; incredibly busy, it needs a huge amount of blood supply. It is the only organ in your body that has two separate sources of blood supply: Oxygenated blood flows in from the hepatic artery and nutrient-rich blood flows in from the hepatic portal vein, which comes from the intestines. The liver can lose three quarters of its cells before it stops functioning. It is the only organ in the body that can regenerate itself and 25 percent of a liver can regenerate into a whole new liver.

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. The liver is perfectly suited to detect, capture, and get rid of bacteria, viruses and large molecules that do not belong in your bloodstream. It is an ideal barrier between you and the outside environment.

Immune system in the 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 (self versus not self).

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 (containing the reticulo-endothelial system of the liver) contains many immunologically active cells, acting as a ‘sieve’ for antigens carried to it from the intestinal blood. The liver filter (sieve) is altered by many factors such as stress, smoking, alcohol, aging, diabetes and pesticides. An open (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 helps to detoxify 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. Along with selenium, N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) is required for glutathione production. NAC has additional immune system benefits; it breaks up biofilms that allow infections to persist and clears excess mucus from the body. This is why I have included NAC in the Livatone Plus formula, but you can always take extra NAC for a super powerful boost to your glutathione levels. Glutathione is the most powerful antioxidant and protector in your whole body.

Milk thistle protects and regenerates the liver

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 dramatically increases your risk of severe COVID-19

A new study shows that having a fatty liver dramatically increases your risk of hospitalization with coronavirus. The study was done by Perspectum and UK Biobank. The researchers found that people who had more than 10 percent fat in their liver had double the risk of being hospitalized with coronavirus than those with healthier levels of fat within the liver. The large study looked at over 42,000 liver scans at the UK Bio Bank, as well as 397 patients who were hospitalized with coronavirus.

Interestingly, the study found that obesity alone did not increase the risk of severe COVID-19 disease, but fatty liver did. As long as individuals who were overweight or obese had liver fat in the healthy range, they had no extra risk of developing complications due to the coronavirus.

In contrast people who were obese with fatty liver, were two-and-a-half times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19. 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 be a heavy drinker of 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” and visit www.liverdoctor.com, which has a wealth of excellent information on how to improve your liver.

So it is interesting to know that a healthy liver can reduce your risk of severe infections and this is because it protects the immune system from overload.

References:
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-immunol-051116-052415
https://www.wjgnet.com/1948-5182/full/v9/i17/757.htm
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1298892/Fatty-liver-patients-severe-coronavirus-covid-19-study

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