St. Patrick’s Day is here, and even though most big celebrations have been canceled because of coronavirus, we still have something to cheer over-our livers. Here are four reasons to celebrate the body’s largest internal organ: the liver is a powerhouse when it comes to metabolizing alcohol.
It metabolizes alcohol and other bad molecules
Degrading alcohol is a multi-step process that happens in the liver, where cells metabolize it using a series of enzymes working in a tidy cascade of reactions.
- If you consume alcohol faster than your body can process it, your metabolic system gets clogged, the toxic molecule accumulates and the liver is under stress.
Your liver nourishes and protects other organs
In times of need, when our blood sugar levels are low with no meal immediately in sight, the liver taps into its reserve and releases the nutrients needed
- Without this constant surveillance of the liver you would not be able to spend an uninterrupted night of sleep
- The liver is part of our immune defense and can gobble up microorganisms trying to invade our body
Your liver makes nutrients
Beside degrading toxins and other molecules, the liver is also a maker of large and complicated structures such as cholesterol.
- Bile is a yellowish-greenish fluid released from the gallbladder into the intestine to help in the digesting of fats.
Your liver stores nutrients
The liver is the first organ to receive the nutrients absorbed by the intestine. It senses the overall state of nourishment of the body and stores nutrients such as sugar or fat when they are abundant in the blood circulation.
- It also stores some vitamins such as vitamin B12 and some sugars as glycogen.
