A Neglected Organ

HERE'S a question that requires you to answer another one: What is the second largest organ in the body? To answer the question, you must know first what the largest organ is. That’s the catch. Otherwise, there is no way for you to compare sizes.

But I will leave you to Google on that one and give you instead the answer about the second largest organ—the liver. It weighs around 1.5 kilos.

Large as it is, the liver appears the most taken-for-granted organ of the body—so disproportionate to the functions it performs to support life. And if you come to think of it, we simply presume it will continue to function well. So we keep on taking in the good, the bad and the worst. Think of what you eat today—canned goods, fried dishes, medications, alcoholic drinks—the list can go on. Whatever you eat or drink passes through the liver, your body’s principal detoxifying center.

The liver filters the blood that comes from the digestive tract, removes or metabolizes toxins and other food substances into useable or easily disposable forms.

Incidental to its processing and metabolizing functions, it is ceaselessly exposed to all toxins—pesticides (in agricultural products), hormones (in animal products), food additives (in processed foods), alcohol (in beverages), medications (from your prescriptions and food supplements)—on a regular basis.

Certain toxins, however... [READ MORE]

This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 28 November 2012.

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