I thought I’d write about our beloved liver, one of the main and most important organ in our bodies. It would help to explain what is the functionality of the liver especially that it is the organ responsible for detoxification. We hear detoxification word thrown around a lot but sadly without clear knowledge of what the liver is capable of and most importantly the impact of your diet on your liver. The liver needs a variety of nutrients to be able to do its job. So first let me explain the biochemistry of detoxification.
There are 2 main phases, traditionally known as phase I and phase II where lipid soluble substances transform into water soluble substance through a series of chemical reactions.
Phase I reactions involve oxidation, reduction or hydrolysis. Family of enzymes referred to as cytpchrome P450’s (CYP P450’s) begins the process of detoxifying xenobiotics and endogenous substances. When phase I is activated the biotransformation allows phase I compounds to undergo phase II conjugation reaction. Be aware, that the transformation in phase I produces more reactive and toxic compounds than the original compound! one of the consequences is increased free radical molecules. As a result, the more efficient phase II reactions are, the less likely these free radicals will cause tissue damage. Therefore, a balanced activity between both phases are paramount.
In phase II, those highly toxic water soluble compounds go through conjugation pathways such as glucuronidation, amino acid conjucation, sulfation, glutothione conjucation, acetylation and methylation. These conjucations add a water soluble molecule to the intermediate metabolite causing it to become more hyrophilic- water loving. Then finally excreted through urine or bile elimination via stool which I like to call it phase 3 in the detox process.
So what does nutrition have to do with liver detoxification?
Lets take a look at what nutrients are needed in both phases for the liver to efficiently carry out detoxification process.
Phase I: