Weight Gain, Weight Loss and the Liver

The Missing Piece to Weight Fluctuations

We live in a world where we are often judged by our size—women especially! It’s frowned upon if we’re too heavy, and it’s frowned upon if we’re too thin. We’re told to exercise—but not too much! “Eat healthy,” but “make sure you have some meat on your bones.” No pressure, right??

And what about metabolism? We’re told that to lose body weight, we need to “boost our metabolisms.” What does that even mean? A simple search online will have you drinking caffeine and eating more protein in order to do this. And why/how do some people just have a “good metabolism” and others don’t? Something just doesn’t add up…

Of course obesity and ongoing weight struggles are a real problem for many, but there’s often a very important piece of the puzzle that is overlooked in how to take back your power and get these issues under control. I’m here to tell you that there’s a much more logical explanation to weight fluctuations, and it has everything to do with your LIVER.

As Anthony William has shared that “what weight gain really comes down to is how fast or slowly your liver functions.”

Liver Functions

For a quick review, the liver is a super powerful organ that doesn’t always get the attention or credit it deserves.

Its duties include processing fat, protecting the pancreas, glucose and glycogen storage, vitamin and mineral storage, disarming and detaining harmful materials, screening and filtering blood, and guarding each of us with its own personalized immune system.

Whew! That’s a lot of responsibility!

As one might guess, we run into problems when our livers are unable to do these very important jobs—and one undesirable side effect is weight gain/excess fat.

Ideally, the liver would be in robust enough shape to process fats, toxins, and hormones with ease, neutralizing and getting rid of the toxins altogether while only holding on to high-quality fats and hormones that could be useful to your body later.

The reality is that for most people, the liver simply has too much to do and the liver can’t process fat as it’s meant to, so fat cells begin to collect in the liver at a more rapid rate. -Anthony William

Weight Gain

Anthony goes on to share in  Liver Rescue  that when our livers can’t filter out toxins the way they should, they build up and we can end up with increased weight gain and excess lymph fluid.

Yuck! Once you recognize the problem, however, you can begin to work toward a solution.

Weight gain should never come with a sense of doom and destiny attached, nor should it come with judgment. The focus on starving yourself, working out like crazy, or cursing your family line—these are all part of the past for you now. Connecting to the truth that much extra weight is actually extra fluid can be incredibly freeing. It means that weight loss is not a grueling matter of burning calories. It’s about releasing the dam so the weight can flow away. -Anthony William

Of course there are lots of ways to help or hinder your body’s ability to detox. Avoiding liver-congesting foods can help, as well as understanding that two other factors, the thyroid and the adrenals , can often be involved as well.

There are pathogens like viruses (including undiscovered viruses) inside the liver. Then when we’re under stress it means adrenaline pumps through our bodies, and our liver has to absorb that too. Then there are the toxins we’ve inherited and that we take in through daily life. Add a high fat and high protein diet on top of that, which greatly burdens the liver, and you’re on your way to pre-fatty liver or eventually fatty liver and a sluggish, weakened liver. -Anthony William

Liver Damage Can Also Lead to Weight Loss

Alternatively, individuals can also experience weight loss as a result of liver issues. While it is talked about less often than weight gain, it can be equally frustrating, and even quite alarming, for those already troubled by health concerns.

Unwanted, mystery weight loss is usually the result of a chronic, low-grade viral infection, such as EBV, inside the liver, setting off the body’s alarm system, essentially creating an allergic reaction that prompts the adrenals to release consistently high levels of adrenaline. Basically, the adrenaline acts as an amphetamine. Often, mystery weight loss doesn’t last forever, because eventually the liver becomes so tired, sluggish, and exhausted from fielding mass amounts of adrenaline that the situation flips, and people start gaining weight instead, even if it’s ten years later. -Anthony William

Ways to Support Your Liver Health

Now that I’ve described how sluggish livers can lead us to gain and even lose weight, this would be a great time to turn some focus onto loving our livers! Particularly for those looking for assistance in finding your optimal weight, here are some lifestyle changes to begin doing so.

1. Stay hydrated! Our bodies need to be hydrated in order to detox properly. Plenty of water (adding citrus for flavor and support) can do wonders for your liver! Celery juice is also great at bringing life back to your liver and helping your body to return to a healthy weight for you.
2. Try adrenal snacking! Eating a well balanced snack every 1.5-2 hours helps to replenish your glucose and glycogen reserves.  Check out these examples of adrenal snacks.  Going further, eating a healthy diet consisting of lots of raw fruits and vegetables with high water content helps to increase hydration and also increase antioxidants that promote the detoxification of our livers and lymphatic systems. Alternatively, by eating a high protein and/or high fat diet, your liver will not be able to work as efficiently. (This type of diet also increases your risk factors for other issues including cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.)
3. Be mindful of toxins in your environment. While this is no easy task and can rarely be “fixed” overnight, beginning to reduce or eliminate dangerous and toxic ingredients, chemicals, and more can help to reduce the toxic load of your liver. Some offenders in the home might include candles, plastics, air fresheners, laundry detergents, soaps, and perfumes/colognes.
4. Remove or limit alcohol consumption. Your liver is already working very hard to filter out toxins and pathogens, the added stress that alcohol brings ( the liver is responsible for filtering 90% of consumed alcohol ) makes it even harder for it to do its job. Worse, chronic alcohol abuse destroys liver cells, resulting in scarring (cirrhosis), alcoholic hepatitis, and can even lead to liver cancer.
5. Try your best to limit stress. This is, of course, easier said than done. However, our stress—emotional or physical—can impair our livers’ abilities to detox effectively.
6. Add in some lymphatic support! Gentle movement and physical activity such as walking and yoga are great ways to provide some support to your liver and beyond. Other suggestions include dry brushing and massage! As you begin to heal, you can increase to more vigorous exercise if you feel comfortable doing so.
7. Try liver supportive herbs and/or supplements such as cleavers ,  oregano ,  milk thistle , and  dandelion root.

In Conclusion

If you have been seeking answers related to weight gain or weight loss, know that there is hope! Beginning to understand how to support your liver is a critical step in the achievement of your own optimal weight. Check out my blog on weight gain, bloating, and constipation for more information on what supporting the liver can do for you. For more on this topic and more, check out  Empowered Women , starting on October 25th!

The post Weight Gain, Weight Loss and the Liver appeared first on Reclaimers of Health.