What Do Emotions Do to our Liver?

I'm sure you have always wanted to know the answer to that question!  Haha!  More than likely it never even occurred to you that your emotional life could have any effect at all on your liver and even if it did...so what?  According to Dr. A.F. Beddoe who wrote the book on biologic ionization, "over 80% of all illness begins within the mind.  Hate, bitterness, anxiety, fear, greed, strife, lust, depression and guilt all interfere with the brain's electrical communication and proper stimulation of the vital organs, especially the liver."  Before I go on, I need to say that this is a very complicated and large subject.  There won't be any way I can write an exhaustive article on all the ways these things go together, but hopefully as you read this it will peak your interest enough to go find other information.  I'm mainly hitting the highlights here, but perhaps in such a way that it will make sense and give you one of those "aha" moments.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
OK, emotion interferes....so why is that big news?  It's big news because the liver is the "primary organ through which all the rest of the body's organs and tissues are maintained, either for better or for worse.  The liver needs the right amount and type of water, oxygen and calcium, as well as the right electrical stimulus from the brain.  If the brain's function is interfered with, by anxiety, hate, bitterness, frustration, turmoil, etc, then the liver sympathetically responds in such a way as to prevent proper uptake and utilization of water, oxygen and calcium in food energy.  This usually means an upset indigestion, caused by an interference of liver function.  Thus the digestive enzymes are weakened so that even good diets and foods turn to poor nutrition and toxicity.  Just as Proverbs 17:1 says, 'Better a dry morsel and quietness..than feasting with strife.'  The weaker the digestive enzymes and the longer their function is impaired, the greater the minieral deficiency will become.  The greater the minieral deficiency from food, the more the body will erode away the vital force or reserve energy.  This will eventually exhibit itself in an increasing number of symptoms as the "vital force" or reserve energy is depleted."  (Biologic Ionization, Dr. Beddoe, pg xv)

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

As stated before in some of my previous posts, Dr. Scott Walker developer of NET, indicates that the major emotion that stays with the liver is anger.  Anger has a very large and negative effect on health and as our livers become more and more affected, sluggish and unable to filter through the toxins in our bodies, we may find ourselves dealing more with the emotion of anger.    It is very important to understand that our bodies are effected on a holistic level, one system effects another system which effects another system.  For example, did you know that one of the symptoms of declining liver function is thyroid problems?  To some extent declining liver function can contribute to excess weight gain as well.  In that case the liver works in concert with the pancreas to increase production of a thyroid enhancing enzyme that appears to influence the body's ability to successfully handle fat metabolism.  In addition, fat cells wrap themselves around toxins in order to protect the body.  If the liver isn't filtering the toxins or we are overwhelming our bodies with toxins, they make it past the liver and the body then deals with them by surrounding them with fat.  The body is created to live and it will always do what it needs to do in order to accomplish that goal.  That is why it is important to drink a lot of water when you are losing weight.  As the fat cells are neutralized, more toxins are released into the system and it is important that those toxins be flushed away rather than reabsorbed into the body.

The liver also has a significant part in regulating blood sugar levels.  Glucagon (produced by the pancreas) is responsible for making the liver convert more glycogen to simple carbohydrates.  However, glucagon and insulin production are dependent on the proper conversion of glycogen in the liver, according to Dr. Beddoe.  If the liver is not working properly, we have issues with blood sugar.  We often associate night sweats with menopause, but night sweats can also be attributable to elevated blood sugar levels.

So, what do we do to maintain a healthy liver?  First of all we need to deal with our emotional baggage....easier said than done, right.  For the most part we just need to let go of the things that aggravate us...whether it be people, work or situations.  Although this is a consistent battle through life, it depends on how we look at things and determining what we have control over and what we don't.  What if we have a critical parent in our lives who we just don't ever seem to be able to please?  That will usually keep us striving for more things or more success to prove to them that we are acceptable.  In dealing with that, we have to understand that we are not the problem.  The problem lies not in focusing on what we do, but rather focusing on who we are.  Are you a person of good character, are you honest, do you have a good work ethic, do you treat your children well, are you responsible, are you a good wife or husband?  Those are the important things and out of that comes everything else.  If that critical person is unable to see that, that is their problem not yours.  For most other things in life, it becomes important to understand what you can control and what you can't.  If you can't control it, it becomes something you need to let go and that may alleviate a significant amount of stress in your life.

Image by mikebaird via Flickr

Once we are successfully dealing with the emotional side of life, we turn to other things.  How much water are we drinking?  Water is the most important element for good liver .  It is a neutral pH level so it helps the body maintain good pH, it carries oxygen to the liver which is the second most necessary element for good liver function, it hydrates as well as carries away the toxins that are filtered out by the liver.  Second is a good supply of oxygen.  We help maintain good oxygen levels by drinking water and exercising.  Again, according to Dr. Beddoe blood oxygen levels to the liver and blood carbohydrate levels are very closely related.  If the blood carbohydrate is not within a proper range at all times, then the blood's ability to allow oxygen into the cell is impaired....a reduced supply of oxygen to liver cells means they are unable to pick up the full compliment of necessary calciums.

The third important component for good liver function is calcium.  No, this does not mean go out to your closest drug store and buy all the calcium tablets you can find.  What it does mean is that we need to keep an appropriate amount of calcium coming into our system through good food and a balanced diet.  Dr. Beddoe explains that when calcium is lacking to the liver, then the oxygen and water are not utilized.  Therefore, as we look at the big picture, we can see that all these things work together to help our bodies work toward optimum efficiency.

Our bodies take a lot of abuse until they begin to show signs of wear.  However the road to a breakdown in health tends to cascade after we have indulged ourselves in many different directions.  Sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and emotional aggravations combine after three or four decades to become health problems that we hope to turn around in a few months as signs of disease come our way.  If we start to move towards a more emotionally and physically healthy life, it will take some time to reverse the effects of what 40 years of abuse has brought on.  It isn't about being perfect as much as it is about being consistent.   Consistently take positive steps towards good health and you will get there.

As opposed to what our culture tells us, it isn't about the stuff and being successful, it is about living a peaceful life, loving those around us (including ourselves), moving our bodies and supplying them with good nutrition.  If we can do these things, we will have our health which in the end is what allows us to live the life we choose.

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• Understanding Grief and Repressed Emotion (solutions4livingwell.blogspot.com)
• OMG, I've Been Diagnosed With..... (solutions4livingwell.blogspot.com)
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Understanding Grief and Repressed Emotion

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Grief is a series of many thoughts and emotions in response to a loss.  The extent the heart is connected to what is lost, affects how much grief is experienced.  For individuals who are unable to adjust to a loss and move on, it may be necessary to look deeper to see what might be contributing to the prolonged grief.  Unresolved past emotions may be triggered by a current loss.  In such cases, the resolution of the current grief may be inhibited by a previous decision to either not think or not feel.

In her book, “Molecules of Emotion”, Dr. Candace Pert presents evidence that the experience of emotions are the result of neuropeptides released from the hypothalamus in response to a thought.  Each emotion has a specific chemical makeup that flows throughout the body and is picked up by receptor sites in various organs.  Each emotion will effect a unique combination of organs in a specific way, and hopefully this will trigger a resolving thought.  Dr. Scott Walker has developed a process he calls Neural Emotional Technique which has helped to pinpoint where in the body and what organs are usually effected by each of the different emotions.  For purposes of this article, we will choose the three emotions we have talked about here; fear, grief and bitterness.  Dr. Walker says that fear is an emotion that effects the kidneys and grief effects the lungs.  Scripture leads us to believe that bitterness effects the bones.  

Two difficulties can occur in the processing of grief.  If one refuses to think about the loss, unresolved energy remains in the brain, resulting in mental distress.  Secondly, if the emotions are internalized, repressed, denied or transposed, rather than embraced and expressed, the chemistry of the emotion remains in the organ, and the natural mental processes do not continue to resolution.  Since each organ shares a neural pathway with a specific set of muscles, the unresolved emotion will continue to affect both the organ function and the related muscle groups resulting in predictable disorders and pains.  However, when the emotion is expressed, the thought processes continue toward resolution causing the release of new emotional chemistry that resolves and replaces the previous set.  If each successive new emotion is embraced and expressed, this process finally results in the flow of the vital feel-good, unifying chemicals of a state of joy that facilitate both our biology and behavior.    

A scriptural example of this connection between thought, emotion and body function is revealed in Psalm 73.  Asaph is envying the apparent ease of the wicked, (vs. 3-12).  In verses 13 and 14 he declares his judgment against his efforts for purity of heart and innocence.   However, he then realizes the foolishness of that judgment and turns to God for His perspective.  Verses 21-22 state, “When my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant ”.   In the Hebrew, “within” is the word “Kilyah” which means kidneys.  When he held onto bitterness in his heart, his kidneys were afflicted and his thinking was blocked.  The conclusion of the Psalm in combination with verses 18 through 20 present a godly resolution of his dilemma.  We can see this kind of connection when we look at individuals who have certain kinds of kidney failure.  As the kidneys are unable to do their job filtering toxins from the body, the toxicity builds and thought processes begin to erode.  In advanced stages people become delusional, they may lose their ability to comprehend time and their understanding of simple every day life declines.

Many children are told, “Big boys don’t cry”, or “You’re just too emotional”.  These events can result in inner determinations of the heart not to express emotion.  Therefore, as loss is experienced, a person may repress the grief and choose to just move on.  Also, the processing of overwhelming experiences, especially in childhood, can be so traumatic that the subconscious defensive systems of the mind will shut it down until a time when the person has the capacity to handle the emotion.  A person may also stop the processing of grief because they judge a particular thought or emotion within the process as unacceptable.  If any of these patterns of repression continue through life, the mental tension and physical chemistry of grief will build.  Each successive event can then trigger fresh waves of the chemistry of the unresolved previous events along with those appropriate to the present situation.  As a result, they may experience excessive, inappropriate stages, or prolonged grief along with physical symptoms of pain in their bodies.  This extreme and confusing response often leads to further repression. 

It may be helpful to reconsider other losses in the life and explore how grief was handled in those situations.  When a previous event is recalled, it should be meaningful information, but if a wave of emotional chemistry is released it indicates the emotions have not been allowed to resolve.  Emotions, when allowed to come forward can resolve when we cry, as we talk and share with another safe person or during the night when we experience REM sleep and begin to dream.  Dreams are a human being's way of working through the "baggage" of the day.  If we don't dream, we don't process as effectively.  

As suppressed emotion is faced, understand that for past experiences, that unresolved chemistry will feel exactly the same.  However the good news is that if you are feeling emotion that was suppressed during childhood, what felt overwhelming at the time, may not be as overwhelming as an adult.  Allow yourself to feel, work through the emotions and resolve the chemistry...that is the path to good emotional health.

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OMG, I've Been Diagnosed With.....

Responses to a diagnosis, whether it is a mental disorder or a physical one can range from great fear to anger to denial.  Most of the time we can't figure out why it has happened and aren't familiar with what it is.

Physical disorders can be very scary.  How many times in your lifetime have you gone to the doctor and heard you just needed an antibiotic, you had the flu or a rash or needed something to help with indigestion?  Then you have an annual physical, a blood test and the doctor calls back saying they need you to come in right away.  You hear you have diabetes or heart disease, high cholesterol or some other frightening disease that you never thought you would hear.  Your mind starts racing, you think, "This can't be happening to me!"  Then, once it sinks in, you start learning everything you can about it, believing that it will be relatively easy to overcome and you'll be back to normal in no time.  However after a short time we come to realize that overcoming 40 or 50 years of bad habits isn't so easy.  Then we get discouraged, then we realize that if we don't make the changes that our life is at stake.  Determination takes over and we begin again.  Sometimes we are successful in finding alternative treatments that work, that are more compatible with our value systems.  If we have caught the disease in time, it may be much more simple to turn around than if we have denied our symptoms and the disease has progressed.

Mental disorders are not the same, although many people are diagnosed with depression, bi-polar disorder or different forms of personality disorders every day, mental disorders come with more of a stigma.  Once the person is diagnosed, although perhaps feeling relieved to know exactly what is going on, they then have to deal with learning about it and how to manage it.  This kind of diagnosis is just as scary, but can come with a distinct weight and path that needs to be walked out individually.  There are support groups for some of the more well known mental issues such as depression and grief, but many of the more severe disorders don't lend themselves to support groups as well.  Usually by the time someone has been diagnosed they have alienated family and friends, finding themselves with little to no support.

As we age, the probability that we are going to hear something like this in our own lives becomes more real.  How will we deal with it?  That too is an individual response.  As much as possible, attitude plays a huge part in whether we are successful in facing a distressing diagnosis or not.  Joy, laughter, love and encouragement are just as essential in the path back to good health as medical science.  Although we may not realize it, unaddressed emotion can effect us mentally as well as physically.  It is my opinion that in the journey of life, the body is the last voice to speak when we continue to ignore our feelings and stuff our emotional responses to the problems we face in life.  Feelings that are ignored don't die, they come up when we are exposed to similar events, people, sights or smells.  If we continue to ignore them, they can develop into fears, social withdrawal, discouragement, depression or eating disorders.  If we let them go long enough, the body becomes endangered.

For example, given enough time, the body will begin to interpret a consistent emotion of anger as a wound.  The normal response to a wound is to release fibrin, the wound clots, scar tissue forms and the wound begins to heal.  So what happens when there is no wound? The body releases that fibrin and it continues to build up and circulate in the blood stream.  Clots can form and the person may be more susceptible to a stroke than s/he would have been if that emotion had been dealt with early on in life.  Additionally, anything we do to turn the body more acidic will leave us more vulnerable to disease.

Cover of Bob Hope

So what can we do?  I don't know about you, but in my opinion laughter and happiness is an easy way to address a part of good self care.  I am old enough to remember some of the comedians of early television like George Burns, Sid Caesar, Bob Hope and others and have observed that these individuals lived well into their 90s, in relatively good health.  Why?  I would suggest that it is because they lived a life where they incorporated humor.  They saw the funny side of life and they were able to laugh at themselves.  If we look into scripture, we find verses that confirm it as well..."a merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones".

Human beings are very complex so understand I am not suggesting that this is the only way to stay healthy.  However, in the long term, it does have its benefits.  My encouragement to you would be to deal with your emotional baggage as soon as possible.  Forgive where you need to, try to find the humor in things and enjoy the life that you have been given.

Kriss Mitchell is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Post Falls, Idaho.  For more information, please visit www.livingwellcc.com or supplements4livingwell.com