Diabetes and Your Liver

“Our family, Orange is the New Liver, has been touched by both liver disease and diabetes so it’s no coincidence that I decided to write about the subject. I felt that since November is Diabetes Awareness month it would be the perfect time to talk about diabetes and how it affects me.”

 Morgan d'Organ & Plucky the Orange

Health Changes All

At some time in our life, a medical condition will deeply affect us - whether family, friends, or other loved ones. This is the reason we created Orange is the New Liver, why we are so passionate about our work, and why we are always looking to help others understand their health however, and wherever, we can.

A Family Affair

Four years ago, our CEO’s grandson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. As his career as a racecar driver was ready to take off, he was told he would never race again. However, where there is a will, there is a way. With the help, support, and continuing research by his primary sponsor, the Eli Lily Drug Company our very own Ryan Reed is now the driver of the #16 Drive to Stop Diabetes Xfinity Series car. In honor of Ryan, his dedication, and the continuing work by Lily, we decided to write about diabetes and it’s impact on the liver.

Metabolism and Glucose

Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that affects your metabolism. Metabolism refers to the way your body uses digested food for energy and growth. Most of what we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is a form of sugar in your blood and is the principal source of fuel for your body. Foods are digested and the glucose makes its way into your bloodstream. Your cells use the glucose for energy and growth. However, glucose cannot enter your cells without insulin being present. Insulin makes it possible for cells to take in the glucose.

Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas. After eating, your pancreas automatically releases the proper amount of insulin to move the glucose present in your blood into your cells. As soon as glucose enters the cells, blood glucose levels drop.

If you have diabetes, the quantity of glucose in your blood is too elevated (hyperglycemia). This is because your body:

1. Does not produce enough insulin;

2. Produces no insulin;

3. Or, you have cells that don’t respond properly to the insulin your pancreas produces.

This results in too much glucose building up in your blood. The excess blood glucose eventually passes out of your body in urine. Therefore, even though your blood has plenty of glucose, your cells are not getting it for their essential energy and growth requirements.

The Liver and Diabetes

Your liver is an insulin-guided organ and its behavior changes depending on the level of insulin in your body. When levels of glucose (and consequently insulin) are high in your blood, the liver responds to the insulin by absorbing glucose. It packages that sugar into bundles called glycogen. These glucose granules fill up liver cells - the liver is like a warehouse for excess glucose.

When glucose levels drop, insulin production falls too. The shortage of insulin in your blood is the signal that your liver needs to liquidate its assets, sending the glucose stored back into your blood to keep your body well fed between meals and overnight.

The liver doles out stored glucose and has the singular ability to make glucose from scratch, a critical function that keeps people alive when food is scarce. In people with diabetes, however, the liver does not process and produce glucose normally, adding to the challenge of blood glucose control.

The liver cannot directly detect blood glucose levels, it only knows what insulin tells it. Consequently, if there is a shortage of insulin or if the liver does not recognize the insulin, your liver will assume that your body needs more glucose, even if blood glucose levels are already elevated. That is why people with diabetes can have sky-high blood glucose even if they have not eaten. The liver is also responsible for the dangerously high blood glucose levels in people with diabetic Ketoacidosis-a condition in which there is such a severe shortage of insulin that the body cannot process glucose as energy. Instead, the body uses fat. Ketones, waste products created when the liver breaks down fat, can be toxic in large quantities.

In Conclusion

YOUR LIVER IS LARGE AND IN CHARGE! It also processes your body’s fat. Once your liver is full of glycogen, it starts turning the glucose it absorbs from your blood into fatty acids, for long-term storage as body fat. The fatty acids and cholesterol are gathered as ‘fatty packages’ and delivered around your body via your blood. Much of the fat ends up stored in fat tissues. All of this extra fat produced and stored by your liver can sometimes lead the liver itself to get fat: A condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The majority of people with diabetes also have NAFLD.

Love Your Liver

Because of the links between diabetes and liver disease, people with diabetes and their health care provider have reason to focus on liver health and use tools such as a liver function test to keep an eye on how you are doing. Your doctor is likely to recommend losing weight, eating well, and exercising. These steps will help control blood glucose levels. For these reasons, what you do for you blood sugar is good for you liver too!

Sunburst Oranges and Orange is the New Liver are the proud recipients of the American Liver Foundation’s first ever “LIVER LOVER AWARD”