More Liver

It's time to celebrate your liver. It's a hard-working organ and it deserves some credit.

One of the liver's most important overall functions is maintaining nutrient homeostasis. It controls the blood level of a number of macro- and micronutrients, and attempts to keep them all at optimal levels.

Here's a list of some of the liver's functions I'm aware of:
  • Buffers blood glucose by taking it up or releasing it when needed
  • A major storage site for glycogen (a glucose polymer)
  • Clears insulin from the blood
  • Synthesizes triglycerides
  • Secretes and absorbs lipoprotein particles ("cholesterol")
  • Stores important vitamins: B12, folate, A, D, E, K (that's why it's so nutritious to eat!)
  • Stores minerals: copper and iron
  • Detoxifies the blood
  • Produces ketone bodies when glucose is running low
  • Secretes blood proteins
  • Secretes bile
  • Converts thyroid hormones
  • Converts vitamin D (D3 --> 25(OH)D3)
The liver is an all-purpose metabolic powerhouse and storage depot. In the next post, I'll give you a recipe for it...

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