7 Signs of an Overworked Liver That You Should Know

TL:DR Your liver is a powerhouse, working 24/7 to process chemicals, break down fats, and keep your body balanced. But when it’s overworked, it can send out distress signals—like fatigue, skin issues, poor sleep, or irritability—that are easy to ignore. The problem? These signs aren’t just annoyances; they could mean your liver needs support before bigger issues arise. The good news? You have the power to help it. By making smart lifestyle choices and nourishing your body with key nutrients, you can give your liver the TLC it deserves—so it can keep working hard for you.

You could have fatty liver disease and not even know it. In fact, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease affects over 25 percent of the world’s population and is one of the fastest-growing liver diseases today.1,2,3,4

This is because there are very few symptoms of liver problems.1

For example, do you have chronic fatigue?

Chronic fatigue currently affects up to 20 percent of the population. In fact, fatigue is one of the most common reasons that people go to see their doctor. Fatigue is actually one of the biggest symptoms associated with certain chronic liver diseases.5,6,7,8,9

However, health professionals often overlook fatigue because of a myriad of reasons.

Altogether, there are seven symptoms to look for that may come as a shock to you.

• Fatigue
• Yellow-coated tongue
• Insomnia
• Constipation
• Skin issues: acne, psoriasis, eczema
• Yellow tint of the cornea
• Irritability 

These common symptoms can also indicate other conditions, making it difficult to connect to your liver. 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16

Trouble sleeping? It could be from too much caffeine or sugar. Feeling irritable? Your MTHFR or COMT gene might not be working efficiently.

But here’s the thing—just because a symptom is common doesn’t mean it’s normal. A lot of people deal with breakouts, for example, but that doesn’t mean acne is just something you have to suffer through. The same goes for the seven symptoms we just talked about. Even if everyone around you is struggling with them, that doesn’t make them inevitable.

Genetics might play a small role, but you have more control than you think. The way your genes express themselves can shift based on your lifestyle. And sometimes, those frustrating symptoms are early warning signs—ones you can catch before they turn into bigger issues.

When you start connecting the dots, you might realize that those little daily struggles actually have solutions.

What conditions do these symptoms indicate?

First things first—getting lab testing from a qualified healthcare professional is key. This will help you understand what’s really going on and whether your symptoms are linked to your liver.

Liver issues can range from mild to serious, including things like sluggish liver function, fatty liver, or even liver scarring. Some conditions, like hepatitis or cirrhosis, are more advanced, but early signs can often be spotted through liver enzyme tests—before they turn into something more serious.17

Your liver health is influenced by both genetics and lifestyle, so it’s important to get a clear picture of how it’s functioning. A healthcare professional can order the right lab tests to check your liver enzymes and see if your symptoms might be related to liver stress or damage.

These lab tests may include (18):

• Alanine transaminase (ALT)
• Aspartate transaminase (AST)
• Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
• Albumin and total protein 
• Bilirubin
• Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT)
• L-lactate dehydrogenase (LD)
• Prothrombin time (PT)

From there, your healthcare professional will go over your results and create a plan based on your numbers, symptoms, and lifestyle. This might include a mix of research-backed lifestyle changes, supplements, and other treatments to help support your health.

Taking Control of Your Liver Problems

After getting test results and speaking with a healthcare professional about your symptoms, you may be ready to try out the first liver cleanse or liver detox you see on Google.

But wait.

Even though taking control of your health is exactly what you need to do, keep in mind the amount of misinformation available on the internet. Many companies promote liver “cleansing” or liver “detoxes,” which may do more harm than good. Stay clear of these fads. These are generally short-term and harsh on your colon and liver. If you attempt to make any drastic changes without the help of a qualified healthcare professional and proper testing, you could be putting your liver health in danger.

Taking control of your health means educating yourself from credible sources, such as a qualified healthcare professional and research-based resources.

6 Ways to Increase Liver Function

Here are the top six lifestyle changes that have been studied and shown to have a significant positive effect on liver health(19,20):

• Minimize alcohol
• Avoid smoking
• Avoid refined carbohydrates and sugar
• Reduce excess body weight
• Maintain a healthy exercise routine
• Consume liver-supporting nutrients: whole grains, vegetables, prebiotic fibers, omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), taurine, choline, alpha-lipoic acid, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, probiotics, glutathione-promoting foods, antioxidants, betaine (trimethylglycine), and milk thistle.

As you might have noticed, the above lifestyle changes take a lot of time and effort. You have to learn to shift your way of eating, moving, and living.

Health is work, and it rightfully should be if it's going to make a positive, lasting change in your life.

But you might be wondering…. is there something I can do to support my liver more efficiently?

Why Should You Care About Your Liver?

Your liver helps you to stay alive.

The main role of this three-pound organ is to help remove chemicals from your body by breaking them down and excreting them as waste. We are exposed to thousands of chemicals on a daily basis, including heavy metals, hormone byproducts, prescription drugs, plastics, and other chemicals in our food and home. In fact, your liver has a deep red color due to the many blood vessels it possesses for transporting blood, which plays a huge role in detoxification.21)

In addition to toxin removal, fat is metabolized, blood sugar is stored, and your immune system is regulated to help fight against infectious organisms.(21, 22, 23)

Yet one of its most important roles is producing bile for the gallbladder and intestines. Bile is a liquid that is created in the liver and flows into the gallbladder as the liver’s waste removal system. But it plays other important roles: when you eat fat-containing meals, bile is squeezed out of the gallbladder and into the small intestine, which breaks down the fats from your meal. And because it has antimicrobial properties, it helps to balance bacteria in the intestines. The list of bile properties and functionality is immense. However, the main point to understand here is that bile is formed in your liver.(21, 22, 23)

To do all this complex work, your liver needs to be able to restore and heal fast; it's the only organ that has the ability to regenerate itself. Literally called “liver regeneration,” it can repair and regrow itself!(24)

Let's have a deeper look at the first two “phases” of liver detoxification.

Phase I of liver detoxification is the breakdown of toxins and unwanted substances, such as alcohol, drugs, and heavy metals, via specific hepatic (liver) enzymes.

Phase II detoxification neutralizes the byproducts of phase I, putting them into a form that can be readily excreted and removed from the body.

During detoxification, your liver is exposed to toxic compounds, making it prone to oxidation and free radical assault. It relies on nutrients to help it neutralize these free radicals, called antioxidants. The most important of these is glutathione, your body’s master antioxidant. A lack of glutathione or an increase in oxidative stress can even reduce normal beta-oxidation, your liver’s ability to metabolize fats. Thus, increasing levels of glutathione can help to support your liver health.^†

Your liver also needs to perform methylation properly. Methylation is the process by which a “methyl” group is transferred to another compound to change its function or convert it. It plays one of the most important roles in epigenetic expression (turning your genes on or off), hormone processes, detoxification, and neurotransmitter health, and occurs at high rates in your liver. This makes sense, right? Because your liver is constantly regenerating itself!

You might be thinking: “Why do I need to worry about my liver health if it can just heal itself?”

Remember, fatty liver disease is an extremely prevalent condition resulting from an overburdened liver that has too much cleanup work to do, with not enough time in each day to get it all done. Our world is full of toxins that you may not even realize. The liver is working non-stop to help you stay clean, healthy, and happy. Just like machines needing regular maintenance, your liver can get stressed in the modern world and may need extra TLC.

3 Ways Liver Nutrients Can Support Your Liver

Liver Nutrients by Seeking Health contains targeted ingredients that support three important liver-protective functions: detoxification, regeneration, and protection. Let’s take a look at the ingredients in Liver Nutrients to see how these specific nutrients play a role in supporting optimal liver health.^†

Detox Your Liver

A key ingredient in Liver Nutrients is taurine, an amino acid that is important for phase II of liver detoxification. Taurine acts as a hepatoprotective agent to support your body’s natural and healthy defenses against liver injury and even helps to support the facilitation of ammonia detoxification in the liver. Taurine also plays a role in the inhibition of the enzyme CYP2E1 to support the normal and healthy removal of chemicals. It supports healthy antioxidant activity and normal glutathione levels to help your liver respond healthfully to oxidative stress.^†(25)

While taurine helps to prevent glutathione depletion, other nutrients also help support glutathione production.*(25)

N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) is another key ingredient found in Liver Nutrients. NAC is a precursor to glutathione and assists in the normal and healthy breakdown of toxic compounds, preparing them for excretion from the liver.^†(26, 27)

These ingredients are synergistic: while taurine helps the normal prevention of glutathione depletion, NAC supports healthy glutathione levels.^†(26, 27)

Regenerate Your Liver

To help support normal and healthy regeneration processes, Dr. Lynch added trimethylglycine (TMG, also known as betaine) to the Liver Nutrients formula, which may play a role in healthy insulin resistance and liver fat metabolism.^†(28, 29)

TMG is a methylated compound (meaning it provides methyl groups to support cellular and DNA methylation, as mentioned earlier). TMG facilitates the body's conversion of methionine to S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe). SAMe is an important compound that helps to promote normal liver cell restoration processes.^†(28, 29)

No wonder this organ of yours is so overwhelmed, It seems to be doing everything!

If you don’t yet understand the power of methylation, check out our methylation blog for more information. 

Protect Your Liver

Your liver LOVES antioxidants. Acetyl-L-Carnitine has antioxidant-like properties supporting healthy glutathione levels and blood glucose and fat metabolism. One of your liver’s main jobs is to break down fat, and ALA helps it to do this job.*(30, 31, 32)

Because your liver is constantly encountering chemicals, fats, and other difficult-to-process chemicals, it is quite susceptible to oxidation. Nutrients such as ALA, NAC, and taurine can help support your liver’s ability to naturally banish and neutralize the vast array of free radicals that your body encounters daily.^†(30, 31, 32)

Last but not least, you ultimately need to support your liver’s natural protection processes.

Milk thistle supports exactly that.^†(33)

Milk thistle is a purple, thorny weed whose seeds have been used medicinally to support liver health since antiquity. The seeds contain an extract called silymarin, which can support healthy protection of the outer liver cells and inflammatory processes. As an extra plus, it can also help support the natural production of glutathione!33,^†(33)

As you can see, the specific nutrients found in Liver Nutrients work synergistically to support healthy liver function on all levels. Other liver support products on the market are missing some of these key ingredients or, even worse, are formulated in a way that can overwhelm the liver, ultimately adding to its burden.^†

In contrast, Liver Nutrients is a gentle formula. Most fad “detoxes” for your liver can be harsh on the body and may cause more harm than good. This formula is one that you can talk to your qualified healthcare professional about using on a daily basis. Dr. Lynch recommends taking this product with food for optimal absorption of a healthy liver!^†

Always consider the pulse method when taking this product, as outlined in Dr. Lynch’s book, Dirty Genes. The method carefully describes that you should listen to your body to determine the optimal dosage of a nutrient for you. Getting too little of a nutrient is something you probably know can have negative effects on you. However, getting too much of a nutrient can also cause you to feel fatigued or sick. There is always a happy medium. Start out with a smaller, divided dose of the product (you can even open up the capsule and sprinkle on food!) and slowly work your way up to a higher dose only if needed. As always, follow the recommendations of your healthcare professional.

You can support this product’s effectiveness by talking to your healthcare professional about consuming a phospholipid complex such as Optimal PC. This will help support bile flow and healthy fat processing. You may also benefit from Liposomal Glutathione if you are looking solely to support glutathione levels in the liver.^†

In fact, Dr. Ben Lynch formulates all of Seeking Health’s supplements based on what the body requires down at the biochemical level, and it is this sort of targeted support that makes Seeking Health supplements, like Liver Nutrients, provide the results you want.^†

Bottom Line

You can have underlying liver issues and not even realize it.

Symptoms of liver problems are general, prevalent, and often discounted as “normal.”

Pay attention to your skin, sleep, and digestion issues as signs that have a deeper-rooted problem. But know that it's possible, with hard work and the right nutrient protocols, to support your body’s natural liver healing processes and live with a vivacious, healthy detoxification organ.

Be sure to take the necessary steps to see your health professional and to make note of symptoms that seem general but could implicate liver dysfunction.

By practicing consistent self-care and implementing the nutritional tools shared in this article, you can support your liver’s health for years to come and, in turn, support your body’s ability to detox and stay clean.^†

When your liver is healthy, you will notice a big difference in your energy and overall well-being.

The key is knowing that you are ultimately in charge of your own health—that means being consciously aware of your liver’s health before issues arise.

Are you ready to start showing your liver some love? Start supporting optimal liver health today; talk to your healthcare team about including Liver Nutrients in your daily routine!^†

Reference:

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