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Assessing Liver Function

by | Jun 1, 2021

Post Categories: Book Reviews | Healthy Aging Practices | Integrative Medicine | Nutrition and Lifestyle

“Is life worth living? It all depends on the liver,” the quick-witted 19th century raconteur Williams James once said. William James was an American philosopher and psychologist who was thought to be one of the foremost philosophers of his time and is often regarded as the father of American psychology. His statement reminds us of the virtues of a healthy life affecting not only the liver, but also the body and mind.1

I preceptored with a naturopathic doctor in North Vancouver while I was a student at Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1991. His primary diagnostic methods involved applied kinesiology and muscle testing. While I had trouble wrapping my brain around his methods of testing, I still learned something. I observed that many patients he treated were diagnosed with liver problems. He prescribed dietary and lifestyle changes and seemingly innocuous liver supplements. Most patients seemed to get better. I was reminded of an unwritten and oft used tenet of naturopathic medicine “that if all else fails, treat the liver.”

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Author

Douglas Lobay, BSc, ND

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