Liver Health

The liver continuously filters blood that circulates through the body, converting nutrients and drugs absorbed from the digestive tract into ready-to-use chemicals. It also removes toxins and other chemical waste products from the blood and readies them for excretion. Because all the blood in the body must pass through it, the liver is unusually accessible to cancer cells traveling in the bloodstream. Ironically, while the liver can cleanse the body of ingested or internally produced poisons, it cannot cleanse itself of cancer. Cancer is the abnormal growth and proliferation of cells.

Most liver cancers are secondary or metastatic, meaning the malignancy originated elsewhere in the body -- usually the colon, lung or breast. Primary liver cancer, which starts in the liver, accounts for about two percent of cancers in the United States but up to half of all cancers in some undeveloped countries. This is mainly because of the prevalence of hepatitis, caused by contagious viruses, that predisposes a person to liver cancer. Worldwide, primary liver cancer strikes twice as many men as women and is most likely to affect people over 50.

Liver cancer usually has no initial symptoms. In the advanced stage, symptoms may include fever, appetite and weight loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, general weakness and loss of sexual drive.

Although there are no definite cures for cancer the following are some ways in which liver cancer can be prevented.

• If there is a risk of exposure to hepatitis, get immunized against hepatitis B. 
• If working around chemicals linked to liver cancer, follow safety guidelines to avoid unnecessary contact. 
• Before taking iron supplements, check with a doctor to make sure whether they are really needed. 
• Do not use anabolic steroids unless medically necessary. 
• Eat more vegetables and fruits, less fat and red meat. 
• Keep greater variety in diet, less monotony. 
• Eat more cereals and whole grains, less processed sugar. 
• Have more natural food colors, fewer artificial colors. 
• Use more herbal spices, fewer artificial flavorings. 
• Eat more natural, whole foods, fewer processed foods. 
• Take in more estrogen-like chemicals from plants (phytoestrogens), fewer synthetic hormones. 
• Have more fruit and vegetable juices, fewer alcoholic beverages. 
• Breath in more fresh air, less smoke- and pollution-filled air. 
• Live in more tranquillity, less stress. 
• Exercise more and watch less television.

Primary liver cancer tends to occur in livers damaged by congenital defects or diseases such as hepatitis B and C, and cirrhosis. More than half of all people diagnosed with primary liver cancer have cirrhosis, and those who suffer from hemochromatosis, or iron overload, are at even greater risk. Various carcinogens are associated with primary liver cancer, including some cholesterol-lowering drugs, certain herbicides, and such chemicals as vinyl chloride and arsenic. Male hormones -- androgens or steroids -- taken by some athletes can cause benign liver tumors and may promote liver cancer. Aflatoxins, a type of plant mold, are also implicated.

Screening for early detection of primary liver cancer is not performed routinely but should be considered by people at high risk for the disease. To diagnose liver cancer, a doctor must rule out other causes of the symptoms. Blood studies that measure tumor markers -- substances elevated in the presence of a particular cancer -- can aid diagnosis. Ultrasound and CT scans may reveal existing tumors, but only a biopsy will distinguish a benign tumor from a malignant one.

• Eat more vegetables and fruits, less fat and red meat. 
• Keep greater variety in diet, less monotony. 
• Eat more cereals and whole grains, less processed sugar. 
• Have more natural food colors, fewer artificial colors. 
• Use more herbal spices, fewer artificial flavorings. 
• Eat more natural, whole foods, fewer processed foods. 
• Take in more estrogen-like chemicals from plants (phytoestrogens), fewer synthetic hormones.

Stress has an adverse affect on any ailment therefore it is imperative that you try to avoid it and relax as much as possible.

Get aerobic exercise regularly. It is a nutrient itself. No healing program will make it without some exercise.

• Avoid tobacco in all forms.
• Take a coffee enema once a week for a month ( 1 cup strong brewed in qt.of water) or chlorella implants.
• Get some sunlight on the body every day possible.