Are you someone who’s fed up and frustrated wondering, ‘Why am I so tired?’.
While you may be thinking it’s ‘low adrenals’, have you looked at the health of your liver?
Most people think of their liver when it comes time to decide whether or not it’s worth it to have that second or third glass of wine.
But did you know that your liver is a major player in having energy or not?
If you’re still not getting an answer to ‘Why am I so tired?’, check your liver.
Energy metabolism rests on the liver’s ability to do its job well.
Your Liver where it is and what it does
Your liver sits at the top of your abdomen, just beneath your lungs and diaphragm.
Some interesting facts about your liver
- Bigger on your right side but extends all the way to your left.
- Largest gland in the body and the largest abdominal organ.
- Protected by your rib cage but subject to injury from having a fractured rib.
1.4 Liters of Blood passes through the Liver every Minute!
Can you imagine drinking 1 liter of water every 45 seconds or so, non-stop, day and night? That is exactly what your liver does, consistently with your blood.
Your liver contains 10% of your blood at any one time.
Moreover, all of your blood from your intestinal tract along with the blood from your veins enter into your liver before going back into your heart. This is important to note especially for those looking to improve their cardiovascular system.
A healthy liver helps with a healthy heart.
Your liver, the ultimate multi-tasker.
It stores, filters, converts and protects you.
STORAGE
Your liver is a storage tank for your vitamins, minerals, immune cells, amino acids, hormones, and energy.
FILTERS
Your liver breaks down and removes worn-out red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria, alcohol, hormones, all medications, and chemicals.
CONVERTS
Your liver converts hormones into usable ones. One good example is your thyroid makes T4 (the inactive thyroid hormone), however, its the job of the liver to convert T4 into T3 (the active form of thyroid hormone).
PROTECTS
Your liver protects you from energy-draining, disease-causing invaders by guarding everything that enters into it. It does this with built-in special immune cells called Kuepfer cells.
Your Liver performs 500 to 600 Functions every Second!
Below are a few more things the liver facilitates:
- the enzymes systems of detoxification
- the enzyme systems of hormonal degradation
- bile production
- amino acid synthesis
- blood sugar regulation
- neurotransmitter precursor production
- the proper storage of vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12
- the proper storage of minerals iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu)
- the breakdown of old, damaged red blood cells
- the production of energy in the form of ATP
- the production of blood components such as prothrombin, fibrinogen, and albumin
- blood pressure regulation via angiotensinogen
- the breakdown of ammonia to urea
Your Liver Holds the Key to Vibrant Energy
As you can see by now, if you are tired all the time, your liver is an important organ to pay attention to when it comes to improving your energy and all-around health.
The ancients knew this long ago. They respected it and believed it to be the center of our soul. In fact, they even went as far as touting it as the most important organ in the human body.
Your liver’s role in the regulation of energy
Your body runs on glucose, fatty acids, and ketones to provide it with consistent fuel.
When you don’t eat, it burns a little bit of these fuel sources, gradually, But when you do eat, a lot of fuel enters the body, all at once.
However, did you know that if it wasn’t for the liver to store excess fuel properly and release it when needed, none of the other organ systems would work well either?
Specific nutrients needed for healthy energy levels
Your liver stores important nutrients that are needed for your energy systems to run properly. Namely A, D, K, E, B12, Iron, and Copper.
- Proper vitamin B status is necessary for the conversion of food into energy.
- There is a link between Low Vitamin D levels chronic fatigue syndrome.
- Inadequate Vitamin A levels lower ATP production (ATP is your bodies energy currency).
When things go wrong with your liver
When asking yourself, ‘why am I so tired?’, the notion of consuming the wrong type of diet will have obvious negative consequences. Things like too much alcohol, fried foods, and fructose, or just overeating in general, leads to a clogged liver. However what’s not talked about, when wondering, ‘why am I so tired’, is the over-accumulation of toxins that can also clog the liver. In the end, blood cannot get through easily, and it fails at balancing hormones, providing essential nutrients, and keeping the body clear of excess toxins.
A clogged liver leads to a shortage of stored energy.
When your liver doesn’t have enough fuel for short term energy storage, you feel tired. Your unmotivated, sluggish and find you need to force yourself to do the day to day activities you use to love when you had more energy.
Basically, it becomes sluggish and fatty and You feel the same way.
How healthy is your liver?
Here are two ways to test how healthy your liver is
TEST #1 – Liver and Gall bladder Questionnaire – Self Test – click the link below
TEST #2 – Comprehensive Liver Blood Test – Blood draw
Ask your doctor for a comprehensive liver blood test. I suggest anyone over 40 should seriously get this done every year. A liver panel will give you a complete and current picture of the state of your liver. You can use this data to help detect any disease and measure potential liver damage.
The specific blood lab values for the liver are Total Bilirubin, Total Protein, Total Globin, Albumin/Globulin ratio, as well as the levels of liver enzymes gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aminotransferase (AST).
Once you have the results, you can make the following lifestyle changes to help remedy and even reverse the problem.
Anyone who needs help in understanding their blood work can contact me at askmichale@gmail.com.
BETTER ENERGY WITH LIVER DETOX
Its time to start talking about simple solutions to getting back that vibrant energy again.
We’ve already established that for better energy, you need a better working liver.
Time to get straight to the point ……
There is one main contributing factor that causes a sluggish, fatty liver and being tired all the time – TOXINS
TOXINS
A toxin is basically any substance that creates irritating or harmful effects in our body undermining our health and well being.
Some of these toxins come from what we eat or take in like medications and poor quality supplements (not all supplements are created equal). Some we get exposed to from poor air quality in our homes, mold from our bathrooms, skin and beauty care products, and the like.
Of course, when our body is working well, we can handle our day to day exposures to toxins very efficiently.
Your liver is a master at detoxification. However, when it doesn’t your body just doesn’t feel well.
THE THREE PHASES OF DETOXIFICATION
Most of your body’s toxic waste goes through three phases in your liver-GI and liver-kidney detox systems.
PHASE I – Enzymatic Transformation
This is your first line of defense against toxins and uses a group of enzymes known as the cytochrome P450 (CYPs). These enzymes protect your cells from damage by converting fat-soluble toxins into water-soluble toxins to enter into Phase 2
Ways to support Phase 1 detoxification include:
- Indoles from cruciferous veggies: Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, and turnips.
- Diets with enough protein to meet body requirements: Meat, fish and seafood, eggs, and vegetable protein.
- Herbs: milk thistle, sassafras, caraway, and dill seeds.
- Citrus: tangerines and oranges (avoid GRAPEFRUIT, which shuts down Phase 1)!
- Vitamins: vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, and vitamin C.
- Lipotrophics: compounds that break down fat in metabolism (cysteine, methionine, choline, and inositol)
- Minerals: magnesium and iron
- Antioxidants: Glutathione and catechins found in green tea
What to avoid – alcohol, charbroiled meats, unnecessary medications. Because unless there are sufficient antioxidants and protective nutrients, this may result in secondary tissue damage (oxidative stress).
PHASE 2 – Conjugation
Phase 2 is all about conjugation, which uses 6 different pathways to take water-soluble Phase 1 metabolites OUT of your body through your bile, urine, and stool.
The 6 different pathways include glutathione conjugation, amino acid conjugation, methylation, sulfation, acetylation, and glucuronidation.
Ways to support Phase 2 detoxification include
- Magnesium
- Supplements that raise glutathione levels: liberal amounts of colorful vegetables and berries, vitamin C, n-acetylcysteine (NAC), and milk thistle.
- Brassica and Sulfur-rich vegetables, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, and turnips. and allium vegetables: garlic and onions
- Amino acids: glycine, cysteine (or n-acetylcysteine), taurine, and methionine (meat)
- Molybdenum, a trace mineral (leafy vegetables, liver)
- Methyl groups: B vitamins and folic acid.
Other nutrients and foods that help Phase 2 are ellagic acid in red grape skin, garlic, rosemary, soy, and cabbage.
What to avoid – Low protein diets, (inadequate supplementation which means too many supplements or too little supplements), as well as lack of the foods listed above in sufficient quantities to help move Phase 2 toxins through to Phase 3.
The last thing you want is to back up Phase 1 toxins. They need to COME OUT! There is growing scientific evidence suggesting that certain diseases are the direct result of damage to the body from poor Phase 2 detoxification.
Some of the diseases that may be caused by toxic intermediate metabolites and free radicals include Cancer, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, lupus, and immune dysfunction.
PHASE 3 – Transportation
This is about transportation. Since water-soluble compounds require special transporters to move them in and out of the cells, Phase 3 transporters are necessary to excrete these toxins out of the cell. These transported toxins are shuttled mainly to your kidneys for further filtration and then out of your body via your bladder and urine OR out with your bile into your small intestine, and down through your GI tract for elimination via stool.
Ways to support Phase 3 detoxification include
- Drink enough water to help your kidneys filter properly.
- Make sure you have 1-3 bowel movements per day. This means without constipation, sluggishness, loose stools, or diarrhea. You want your stool score of #3 or 4 on this Bristol Stool Chart. You can find it in my last blog post
What To Do If You Are Constipated – 4 Steps To Fix Constipation
5 Ways to Stop Being Tired and Start Having Energy + 3 BONUS Tips
1. Start your day with 1/2 a freshly squeezed lemon and 1 liter of filtered water.
Place freshly squeezed lemon into 1 liter of warm water and drink first thing in the morning. Do this before you have your first meal. Drink the rest of your water requirements always away from meals. A good rule of thumb is 1 liter of water for every 50 lbs of body weight. Drinking enough water is game-changing for most when they adopt this new habit.
2. Add beets and beet tops to your diet.
Beets are known for their ‘blood cleansing’ properties and use in sluggish liver conditions such as Fatty Liver. Beets are also helpful to lower triglycerides, lower blood pressure, improve athletic performance, and reduce muscle soreness. Use raw or cooked.
3. Consume cruciferous vegetables.
Cruciferous vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, and cabbage all contain sulfur compounds called glucosinolates that bind and eliminate toxins. Helpful to remove harmful estrogens especially for women over 40 or men developing Gynecomastia (enlargement of breasts).
4. Take a good digestive aid with hydrochloric acid and ox bile.
The liver makes bile and stores it in the gall bladder. Stomach acid is a major stimulator for the secretion of bile into the small intestine. Bile is critical for the break down of dietary fats, the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, and K) and to sterilize the gut from unwanted invaders. The smoother your digestive process is, the healthier and lighter you will feel. I personally use and recommend to all my clients Pan-Ox-5.
If you do not have a gallbladder or have very sluggish bile motility than you will need supplemental bile.
5. Use medications only when necessary,
Every and all medications must be filtered through the liver. If you are currently on medication, check the side effects. You will usually find nausea, weight gain, and fatigue as common side effects.
Even over the counter medications like Tylenol can have severe consequences on the liver.
“Acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, among others, may be among the most dangerous medicines on the market” warns Dr. Mercola.
Dr. Mercola is one of the leading Doctors in Natural Medicine. He shares with us that acetaminophen can be toxic to your liver even at recommended doses when taken daily for just a couple of weeks
3 BONUS TIPS to Stop Being Tired and Start Having Energy
BONUS TIP #1 – Avoid (or at least limit) alcohol.
Alcohol must go through the liver’s detoxification cycle to be metabolized and deactivated in the body. Chronic alcohol consumption depletes the liver of valuable glutathione, sulfur compounds and methylating elements such as zinc, riboflavin, B6, folate, and B12. Nutrients needed for energy metabolism, proper digestion, immune function, and stress management. I personally have been ‘alcohol-free’ for over 3 months now and am all the better for it.
BONUS TIP #2 – Replace ‘liver-damaging foods’ with liver supporting ones.
Start with avoiding rancid, hydrogenated ‘bad’ fats and highly inflammatory vegetable oils like canola, sunflower, safflower, soy, and corn. high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, additives, hormones, preservatives, or artificial colors, and eat free-range or organic whenever possible. Your liver has to work harder to filter all this gunk.
BONUS TIP #3 – Do a proper detox (highly recommended)
Anybody who wants to be healthy needs to do a proper detox. Period.
Especially if you are struggling with relentless fatigue and tired all the time!
We are at unprecedented levels of toxins in our environment. In this day and age, we all need to pay attention to the amount of toxins we are exposed to and begin limiting them.
Everyone has their own ‘toxic’ threshold as well as their unique ability to clear them out. However, if you are constantly asking yourself ‘why am I so tired?’, then I highly suggest putting a properly done detox, top on your priority list.
If you take anything from this blog post do this……
When considering a detox plan, please make sure your detox program covers all 3 phases of detox.
Otherwise, as I alluded to earlier, if you do not take all the precautions to support Phase 2, you are recirculating these toxins back into your body, causing even more damage.
Rejuvenating Detox with Biotherapeutic Drainage and UNDA Number Compounds
I personally discovered the invaluable health benefits of the Biotherapeutic Drainage method of detox, about 10 years ago.
What I loved most about this form of detox was how easy they were to use and how great I felt on them. Once I found benefit, I began using them on my personal clients. Many of them report how much better they felt on them too.
Now, I regularly use these in my personal nutritional practice, alongside the proper Diet and Lifestyle practices.
Also to take note: Using the UNDA numbers to clear toxins out of the body covers all 3 phases of detoxification – Liver, kidney, and Digestive Tract.
What is Biotherapeutic Drainage?
Biotherapeutic Drainage is a type of detox, both gentle yet profound, that aids in the elimination of toxins and waste products, restoring balance to the body. The main remedies used in this system are the Unda numbered compounds. There are no side effects. It’s used for both the young and the old and they work to simply allow for the body to do its own healing.
What are UNDA numbered compounds?
The UNDA numbered compounds are unique complex homeopathic remedies that allow the body to begin to deal with this accumulated toxicity. The UNDA numbers were formulated in Europe in the early 1900s. The formulations are based on Chinese Medicine theory as well as homeopathic and Anthroposophic principles.
To learn more about Biotherapeutic Drainage for Detox, click the link below.
Boost energy, banish cravings, balance hormones with DETOX
In it, you’ll find how it works to regenerate whole body systems to finally wake up with energy and end fatigue.
Now is your chance to Stop being Tired and Start having Energy!
Need more help?
Get Simple Solutions to, ‘Why am I so tired?’ and love your life again WITH energy and vitality!
Send an email to askmichale@gmail.com for a complimentary 30-minute strategy session by using the subject line ‘More energy please’.
What do you think? I would like to hear your thoughts or experience with this.
- Get help with better energy, health, and vitality! For options that fit your schedule. Contact Michale
- Get your personalized plan for optimizing the liver, kidney and digestive tract.
Michale Hartte, BASc (Nutr), NNCP, CH is your leading Nutritionist and Detox Specialist, focusing on gut-related health issues such as weight loss resistance, constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, leaky gut, ulcers, IBS and Fatty Liver Disease.
For more information on how to become a client, please contact Michale at 250-718-1653 (text or phone), Email Michale or visit www.askmichale.com. Serving all English speaking countries via phone, Skype, FaceTime or WhatsApp.