Keeping the liver in its fittest form
> Liver disease tends to progress slowly and causes no symptoms of its own
THE liver is the only organ in the human body that is able to regenerate whenever there’s damage, but it is not totally invincible. Fatty liver and liver fibrosis is reversible, but not liver cirrhosis.
There are two types of fatty liver – non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). You are at risk of fatty liver if you have at least one of these risk factors, including overweight and obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and alcoholism.
Unhealthy lifestyles can put your liver at risk from free radical attacks and damages, which can lead to fatty liver development.
These free radicals attack the phospholipid bilayer surrounding the liver cells causing damage to the liver membrane. We need to replenish essential phospholipids to aid its regeneration activity because the liver cell is made up of the phospholipid bilayer.
Phospholipids especially referring to phosphatidylcholine (PC) serve as the building blocks for liver cell membranes to replace the damaged holes in the liver due to free radical attacks.
Other nutrients such as B vitamins and vitamin E may provide additional protection to the liver.
B vitamins are important nutrients required by the liver to complete the metabolic process to remove toxins from the body. B vitamins also assist in breaking down excessive fats and converting them into energy for body usage.
This will prevent the build-up of fat that will develop into fatty liver. B vitamins also help enhance the natural antioxidant, glutathione (GSH) that is commonly produced in the liver. GSH assists to protect the liver from free radicals damage from inside-out.
Meanwhile, vitamin E is the major lipid-soluble antioxidant in all cell membranes. It acts as the first-line of defence against lipid peroxidation, protecting the cell membranes from harmful effects of free radicals.
Three months of phosphatidylcholine supplementation added with B vitamins and vitamin E has been proven to help improve both clinical and biochemical indicators of liver disease including fatty liver, hepatitis and cirrhosis.
But how does these ingredients help? Triple action of phosphatidylcholine (PC), B vitamins and vitamin E help to improve liver conditions and essential phospholipid (phosphatidylcholine) act as a building block of liver cell membranes, while vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6 & B12 are essential for liver metabolism for better detoxification, and vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects the liver against damage induced by oxidative stress.
In conclusion, the right type of supplementation – a combination of essential phospholipid (phosphatidylcholine), B vitamins and vitamin E helps facilitate cell growth and repair, and protect the liver from further damage before it’s too late.
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