How does the liver detoxify substances?
A healthy liver uses two mechanisms, called Phase 1, and Phase 2 detoxification, to remove toxins. In Phase 1, your body’s enzymes activate toxic substances to make them more accessible to Phase 2. In Phase 2, other enzymes convert toxins to more water-soluable forms, which your body eliminates through urine or stool. What happens during impaired liver detoxification? An unhealthy liver does not detoxify substances as rapidly or as completely as a healthy liver. Slower detoxification results in more toxic substances circulating in the body. Unchanged or partially changed toxins are not easily eliminated and instead pass from the liver into the body. Eventually, the toxins are stored in fatty body tissue, including the brain and central nervous system cells. Stored toxins may be slowly released into the blood, contributing to many chronic illnesses. How is liver function damaged? A number of conditions affect how well the liver performs its detoxifying duties. Repeated exposure to chemi
