15 Ways to Love Your Liver

[Guest guest]

http://www.doctoryourself.com/liver_15_ways.html

15 Ways to Love Your Liver

There must be FIFTEEN WAYS TO LOVE YOUR LIVER

1. Put the six-pack back, Jack

Half of all the alcohol consumed in America is consumed by only

ten percent of the population. One in three adult Americans is a

heavy drinker, with a sufficient liquor habit to be

indistinguishable from an alcoholic. Such behavior wrecks livers.

Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis of the liver is a rather rare disease, except among

alcoholics... who make it the seventh leading cause of death in

the U.S.! And it is 4th or 5th, in large cities among adult men.

It usually takes a half quart of whiskey daily for ten years to

abuse the liver to the point of cirrhosis.

The fibrous tissue that replaces normal liver in cirrhosis causes

decreased liver function. Of course this leads to fluid buildup,

jaundice and perhaps cancer of the liver. Cirrhosis is fairly

easy to arrest by stopping alcohol. But cure is difficult and

generally considered impossible. Well, as they say in the

Marines, the difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a

little longer.

Reversing cirrhosis is reduced to being merely very difficult if

you employ the Gerson program (referenced below) and very high

doses of vitamin C and B-complex vitamins. The corticosteroids

(Prednisone) are commonly tried but the side effects are

undesirable, and the drug is probably ineffective.

Prevention is the way to go: stop drinking. Sure, as W. C. Fields

said, " It's easy to give up drinking; I've done it a thousand

times.' But consider this: Fields, the highest paid comic of his

time, who drank over a quart of hard liquor a day, was dead at age

66. That's not so funny.

2. Avoid the virus, Iris

Hepatitis Acute viral hepatitis, or " infectious hepatitis " is now

called hepatitis A. " Chronic, " " long incubation, " " serum, " and

" posttransfusion " are now called type B. Non-A non-B may be more

than one agent. All respond remarkably well to very large doses of

vitamin C, the B-complex vitamins and the Gerson therapy,

described below.

3. Take a lot more " C, " Lee

Zannoni at the University of Michigan Medical School has

shown that vitamin C protects the liver. Even doses as low as

500 milligrams daily helps prevent fatty buildup and cirrhosis.

5,000 mg of vitamin C per day appears to actually flush fats from

the liver. (Ritter, M. " Study Says Vitamin C Could Cut Liver

Damage, " Associated Press, October 11, 1986) And vitamin C over

50,000 mg/day (not a misprint) results in patients feeling better

in just a few days, and actually eliminates jaundice in under a

week. (Cathcart, F. III (1981) The method of determining

proper doses of vitamin C for the treatment of disease by

titrating to bowel tolerance. Journal of Orthomolecular

Psychiatry. 10:125-132.) Frederick Klenner, MD, found that such

huge doses of vitamin C had his patients recovered and back to

work in under a week. (Klenner, Frederick R. (1971) Observations

on the dose of administration of ascorbic acid when employed

beyond the range of a vitamin in human pathology. Journal of

Applied Nutrition. 23(3 and 4), pp 61-68, Winter.) These and

additional references are found in the highly-recommended book by

Melvyn Werbach, MD (1988) Nutritional Influences on Illness. New

Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing.

Immediate and detailed information on vitamin C dosage and

administration, written by medical doctors, will be found at

http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html

http://www.doctoryourself.com/ortho_c.html

http://www.doctoryourself.com/klenner_table.html

http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html

4. Don't trust in a shot, Dot

Even if you choose to vaccinate, it is immeasurably reassuring to

remember this: Dr. Klenner showed that very large doses of vitamin

C (between 500 to 900 mg per kilogram body weight per day) can

cure hepatitis in as little as two to four days (, L. H., ed.

Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C, Life Science Press, Tacoma

Washington, 1988, pp 22-23).

5. Take vitamin B, Dee

Especially vitamin B-12, which significantly reduces jaundice,

anorexia, serum bilirubin, and recovery time. (Jain, A.S.C.,

Mukerji, D. P (1960) Observations on the therapeutic value of

intravenous B-12 in infective hepatitis. Journal of the Indian

Medical Association. 35:502-5; also , R. E. and Pruitt,

F.W. (1952) Vitamin B-12 in the treatment of viral hepatitis.

American Journal of Medical Science, 224:252) B-12 is most

effective if administered by injection, which your doctor can

easily arrange. If injection is not an option, there is an

intra-nasal gel that improves absorption. B-12 is

non-prescription, utterly non-toxic, and has no contraindications

and no negative side effects.

6. Eat veggies and greens, Gene

The fiber and abundant nutrients in vegetables are a sure way to

improve the health of practically any organ you can name,

especially the liver. Vegetables are esentially fat-free. And,

they are rich in the B-vitamin folic acid. (Folic, like in

foliage. Neat, huh?) Folate has been shown to help shorten the

recovery time for viral hepatitis. (, R. E. and Pruitt, F.

W. (1955) The effect of vitamin B-12 and folic acid in the

treatment of viral hepatitis. American Journal of Medical

Science, 229:8)

7. Eat your food raw, Paw

Or at least as much of it as you can. Max Gerson, M.D. believed

that cancer in general is a disease of the liver even if occurring

elsewhere in the body. Gerson's nutritional therapy is a raw-foods

protocol that is often very effective against cancer, as well as

lesser diseases. Cancer in the liver itself is often due to

environmental toxins, such as dry-cleaning fluids. I have

personally seen a terminal liver cancer case (and the patient had

indeed been a dry cleaner for many years) vastly improved with the

Gerson program. Full dietary details are provided in his book A

Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases.

8. Get off the drugs, Doug

Illegal drugs of all sorts (and not a few prescription drugs as

well) are rough on the liver. This includes anabolic steroids.

The liver is the main chemical detoxification center for your

entire body. Don't push it; quit now before your liver quits on

you.

9. Eat less fat, Matt

The liver is the largest gland in the body, weighing in at about 4

pounds. Diseases of the liver may result in diminished ability to

emulsify fats. Your liver normally makes 250 to 1,000 ml (over a

quart!) of bile DAILY. Most (about 80%) of your bile salts are

reabsorbed by the intestinal tract and returned to and recycled by

the liver. This is how your body, with about 3.6 grams of total

bile salts in it, can secrete 4 to 8 g of bile salts per single

fatty meal. Gross, huh?

Fatty liver is much more common than you would expect. 25% of

people have this condition, according to the Merck Manual, 14th

ed. Fatty liver is the most common response of the liver to

injury. It typifies the alcoholic's liver upon admission to the

hospital. The Merck Manual indicates " no specific treatment " (p.

830) and says it likely indicates other problems, such as alcohol,

drugs or malnutrition (oh, my!) Treatment certainly includes

cessation of alcohol intake. Therapeutic juice fasting gives the

liver an opportunity to use all those extra built-up fats.

10. Use safe sex, Tex

If you are not in a monogamous relationship, you are at increased

risk for hepatitis.

11. Wash your hands, Stan

Good grief, is that so hard to do? After a bowel movement, that

paper you use to clean up with is thinner than a politician's

election promise. Do you really think the tissue keeps you hands

squeaky clean? To put it another way, do you think it keeps

someone else's hands clean enough for you? No? Then wash your

hands with soap and hot water! I read once that over half of all

physicians don't wash their mitts after using the toilet. I hope

this is not true. My supposition is that it is, however. When

heads of state, billionaires, or doctors use the john, they are

about as likely as you to do what you do. Think about that in

your spare time today. And wash.

12. Prevent that stone, Joan

Now here's an obvious argument for vegetarian diet, as only animal

foods contain cholesterol, and cholesterol forms gallstones. Some

people manufacture excessive cholesterol, and this can be

controlled through intelligent use of therapeutic vegetable juice

fasting and large doses of vitamin C, both of which significantly

reduce cholesterol production.

13. Spare the bile,

About 33 ml of bile is stored in the average gallbladder. Many

animals (rats, for instance) do not even have one. In addition to

bile salts for emulsification, bile contains the pigment

bilirubin, neutral fat, phospholipid, assorted mineral salts...

and high concentrations of cholesterol.

The gallbladder is more than a storage receptacle. Bile is

concentrated in the gallbladder. Also, water is removed, and

resulting concentrated cholesterol level may be too much to remain

in solution and cholesterol gallstones may precipitate out. In

addition to hurting, gallstones obstruct the bile duct and

thereby interfere with fat digestion. One indicator:

light-colored stools. Why? Bilirubin, the bile pigment, darkens

them to brown-green. Otherwise, stools would be manila to

greyish-white in color. Ugh. Low-fat meals probably help prevent

future gallbladder problems.

14. Eat lecithin, Tim

Phospholipids in bile help emulsify cholesterol. Lecithin therapy

is therefore almost certainly worth trying for threatened

gallstones. Three to five tablespoons daily is more likely to be

effective than a few capsules. Even a large 1,200 mg capsule

contains only about 1/8 tablespoon lecithin because of size limits

and added carrier oils. Lecithin is harmless and without side

effects. Bulk granules run between $8 and $15 per pound.

Lecithin is non-prescription, and available at any health food

store.

15. Be sure to read, Steed

References and Sources Cited: Gerson, Max A Cancer Therapy:

Results of 50 Cases, Totality Books, Del Mar, CA

Ray, O. and Ksir, C. Drugs, Society and Human Behavior, Mosby,

1990, chapter 9

Vander, Sherman and Luciano Human Physiology

Werbach, M. (1988) Nutritional Influences on Illness. New Canaan,

CT: Keats Publishing.

, Sue R. (1993) Nutrition and Diet Therapy, seventh

edition. St. Louis: Mosby.

Reprinted from the book FIRE YOUR DOCTOR, copyright 2001 and prior

years by Saul, Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York

14470 USA Telephone (716) 638-5357

Dr. Saul

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as

prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness,

infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or

alternative health program necessarily must involve an

individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume

otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a

physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision.

Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of

their names or the use of any material contained within in

connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product

or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual,

non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of

content are made, and credit is given.

| Home | Order my Books | About the Author | Contact Us |

Webmaster |

_____________________________________________________________________