none;text-autospace:none">8) The liver serves as the main glucose buffer, preventing high or low extremes of blood sugar. It is a key regulator of blood sugar between meals, due to its manufacture, storage and release of glycogen. This helps prevent energy and mood swings that get most folks reaching for coffee and sweets mid morning and in the afternoon. This also helps keep endurance athletes chugging along without “bonking”.
none;text-autospace:none">9) The liver can make glucose (used for energy production in the body) from dietary or body derived amino acids. This process is called glucogenesis (glucose making) and it ensures adequate brain and muscle carbohydrate fuel supplies even when the diet provides little are no carbohudrates. The liver produces as much as 20-25% of the blood sugar that endurance athletes during intense training or competition by converting the amino acid alanine (released from muscle tissue) into glucose.
none;text-autospace:none">10) The liver is the chief regulator of protein metabolism. It converts different amino acids into each other as needed. The liver also synthezes creatine from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. If not for the super high energy biochemical creatine phosphate, sprint- type athletics would be biologically impossible.
none;text-autospace:none">11) The liver produces cholesterol and packages it into different forms for blood transport: HDL, LDL, VLDL. Essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, GLA, EPA, and DHA, must also be properly packaged by the liver ito appropriate lipoprotein forms (VLDL) to allow transport through the blood to the 50 trillion cells using the fatty acids.
none;text-autospace:none">12) The liver is the main poison-detoxifying organ in the body. It must break down virtually everything toxic to the body- from metabolic wastes, to insecticide residues, drugs, and alcohol, industrial and food processing chemicals, etc. Failure of this liver function will usually cause death in twelve to twenty-four hours.
none;text-autospace:none">13) The liver must dispose of ammonia, an extremely toxic by-product of protein metabolism. The amino acids arginine, and orthinine are used by the liver to control ammonia levels. Ammonia can cause brain irritation and even death- even at low levels.
14) The liver is the main organ for breaking down hormones after they have served their messenger function to their target cells. For example, if the liver dies not break down insulin quickly enough, hypoglycemia results as the still circulating insulin continues to lower blood sugar. If the liver dies not metabolize estrogen properly, PMS will result. Failure to dispose of adrenaline (the fight or flight hormone) after it has outlived its usefulness may lead to chronic irritability and temper explosions.