Herbal Therapy and the Liver

Eliminative function has long been seen to be an important component to the maintenance of vitality in the body in the Western herbal tradition, for it is the accumulation of waste materials and toxins that actively impair the ability of the vital force to maintain homeostasis. Although the liver is but one of five major eliminative organ systems of the body, including the bowels, kidneys, lungs and skin, most wastes and toxins at some point enter into hepatic circulation via the blood, regardless of their origin, to be filtered, processed, and eliminated, either in the bile or passed along to the kidneys to be secreted as urine.