Supporting the Liver with SLF Forte
Especially in the spring, many people get the urge to do a ‘liver cleanse’, often after a winter season of inactivity and overindulging in sweets, heavy holiday meals and New Year’s cocktails. Also, some look at a cleanse as a way to start shedding excess pounds. These are good motivators to regain health, but it is also easy to place false hopes in common one or two week cleanse programs. When it comes to optimizing liver function and how it may impact your overall health, the long term is so much more important than any quick fix.
This month, we’re looking at the product SLF Forte by Integrative Therapeutics, as well as diet and lifestyle changes, that can significantly improve health and protect the liver, the body’s detoxification workhorse, for the long haul.
What Does the Liver Do?
The liver is perhaps the busiest and most abused organ in the body, performing multiple tasks throughout the day. In addition to detoxifying chemicals, heavy metals, drugs, biological waste etc., it also stores energy reserves(glycogen), produces bile for fat digestion and waste removal, and helps produce important hormones. It is busy 24 hours a day, even when you are sleeping. In fact, it might do much of its housekeeping in the middle of the night. If you find yourself waking up frequently around 3 am, it may be your burdened liver working overtime.
To function at its best and perform its two main phases of detoxification, the liver needs an ample supply of nutrients like Vitamins A, B Complex, C, D, magnesium, glutathione precursors like L-Methionine, and much more. Various antioxidants also play a role in protecting liver cells while it does the demanding dirty work for the rest of the body. We’ll discuss some of these nutrients in depth shortly.
Risks for Liver Health: More Than Just Alcohol
Even if you are a teetotaler when it comes to alcohol, there are other risk factors that threaten liver health. Due to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and pre-diabetic metabolic syndrome, it is estimated that at least 30% of Americans have some degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. This includes nearly 10% of children and growing. (4)
A small percentage of people with NAFLD can develop NASH, a form of hepatitis that can lead to damage and scarring of the liver, and increases the risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer. (4) While most with NAFLD don’t have complications that lead to life-threatening liver disease, the fact that such a large and growing portion of the country is at risk means we need to make some meaningful changes.
SLF Forte: Nutrient and Herb Support for the Liver
Our featured product this month is one simple tool to help optimize liver function. Integrative Therapeutics’ SLF Forte combines essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids along with herbal extracts that assist with the detoxification process and help protect liver cells.
Here is a breakdown of what role the key ingredients play in the formula:
- Vitamin Mineral Blend: SLF Forte includes Vitamin C, B6,B12, Iodine, Magnesium, Choline, Inositol. Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant and aids in production of glutathione, which is essential for detoxification. Iodine and Magnesium may be helpful in elimination of certain types of toxins, including heavy metals. Choline and Inositol assist in emulsifying and breaking down fats, which can build up in the liver.(3)
- L-Methionine:An essential amino acid, methionine is a precursor to glutathione, is a potent antioxidant, and may also help prevent fatty buildup.
- Radish: much more than just a salad fixing, radishes, especially black radishes, contain a special compound called RsPHGPx that helps fuel the Phase 2 detoxification pathway(5). Phase 2 is a crucial step to conjugate harmful chemicals so they can be eliminated and not reabsorbed into the bloodstream.
- Dandelion Root: Dandelion root has long been used in traditional herbalism. It aids in bile flow, which helps break down fats and eliminate waste from the body. Dandelion root polysaccharides also appear to protect liver cells from damage.(6)
- Artichoke: Artichoke aids in bile flow and the breakdown of fats. A study of 60 patients with NASH who took artichoke extract showed a reduction in weight, blood sugar, LDL cholesterol and liver enzyme markers.(7)
- Milk Thistle: For good reason, milk thistle is probably best known and most studied as a liver health supplement. In particular, standardized extracts of active ingredient silymarin have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Meta-analysis of multiple studies with NAFLD patients showed an improvement in liver health markers.(2)
- Turmeric: Curcumin from turmeric also is well known for its general antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Early research suggests that these properties may protect the liver from damage caused by inflammation and oxidative stress.(8)
This formula was carefully designed to combine the best knowledge of modern nutrition science, human and animal research on herbal extracts, and traditional herbal remedies known to aid liver function.
Diet and ‘Lifestyle Medicine’
While supplements can be a very helpful part of your health regimen, not enough emphasis can be placed on how important and fundamental it is to have a healthy diet and regular exercise. Whether you are healthy now or are working to regain your health, eating well and staying active are essential. They can even have a real measurable impact on markers for disease and be part of a recovery plan with your doctor.
Because health statistics suggest a rather significant portion of diseases being treated today are chronic and likely preventable, the medical profession has taken notice. ‘Lifestyle medicine’: diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and more are being looked at as serious interventions that can prevent and even reverse some health problems.
Because many issues associated with the liver are tied to lifestyle and diet in the long term, the problem can also be part of the solution. Some researchers have even looked at the Mediterranean Diet because of its association with good heart health and longevity. As a diet high in fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, moderate amounts of healthy fats and limited refined foods, it makes sense that it may be good for liver health as well. While more research is needed, some studies have shown those with NAFLD who adhered to a Mediterranean style diet showed a reduction in liver fat, total body weight, blood sugar, cholesterol and liver enzyme markers.(8)
It is important to remember that these results are over months and years, not days or weeks. A healthy diet is different than dieting for rapid weight loss. For liver health, rapid weight loss can actually increase liver fat and raise liver enzymes, so it is better to take your time and make gradual, lasting changes.
In closing, whether you plan to do a cleanse, take a supplement like SLF Forte, and work on your diet and lifestyle, remember to take your time, walk don’t sprint, and the positive changes will reap long term rewards.
References:
- Detoxing Your Liver: Fact Versus Fiction, Reviewed Tinsay Ambachew Woreta, M.D., M.P.H, John Hopkins Medicine, April 2019
- Nutraceutical Approach to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): The Available Clinical Evidence. Cicero AFG, Colletti A, Bellentani S. Nutrients. 2018;10(9):1153. Published 2018 Aug 23. doi:10.3390/nu10091153
- The effect of choline and myo-inositol on liver and carcass fat levels in aerobically trained rats, Kenney JL1, Carlberg KA, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7751073
- Definition & Facts of NAFLD & NASH, Nov 2016, NIH
- Five reasons radish is great for detoxing the liver,
- 9 Health Benefits of Dandelion Tea, January 19, 2019, Mercola Health,
- The Effect of Artichoke Leaf Extract on Alanine Aminotransferase and Aspartate Aminotransferase in the Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis. Rangboo V, Noroozi M, Zavoshy R, Rezadoost SA, Mohammadpoorasl A. Int J Hepatol. 2016;2016:4030476. doi:10.1155/2016/4030476
- Pharmacological actions of curcumin in liver diseases or damage. Abstract, Rivera-Espinoza Y1, Muriel P., Liver Int. 2009 Nov.
- Mediterranean diet and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Anania C, Perla FM, Olivero F, Pacifico L, Chiesa C. World J Gastroenterol. 2018;24(19):2083–2094. doi:10.3748/wjg.v24.i19.2083
Patrick Postlewait studied English Literature and Environmental Studies before spending the rest of his twenties working on an organic farm growing vegetables and herbs. He spent over a decade in the supplement and health food industry before becoming Brands Manager for Acupuncture Atlanta. When not at the clinic, he spends time with his wife and works as a studio musician and songwriter.
