Detoxifying for a Healthy Liver - Why Should You Do It?

I talk about detoxification quite a bit. (You may have noticed this.) It's not just here. I also chat to friends, family members and on occasion, total strangers about the benefits of detoxing one's liver.

The first question I usually get asked is "Why should I bother going through all that? My liver feels fine."

Of course it does. You don't usually "feel" things going wrong in your liver. I certainly never did, until I started getting gallstones, and even then, technically I wasn't feeling it "in" my liver or even in my gallbladder, the pain was in my urethra. (Sorry. You asked.)

In our society we tend to treat symptoms without addressing the initial problem. We like to Band-Aid issues. We're prone to snark (or at least cast a distrustful glance toward), for example, holistic or Chinese medicine, which address the whole person. "Who cares what my meridians are doing and what's all this about my big toe? I just want this headache to go away," we argue.

I'm as guilty of that as anyone, frankly.

The problem is that liver problems tend to present in such a non-specific way: weird nonspecific itching, fatigue, lack of drive. The more readily visible signs of liver disease, such as jaundice, don't present in every liver patient and don't always present at all until the condition is quite advanced.

The wonderful thing about the liver, however, is that it can regenerate itself. It can heal. There's no guarantee that invisible liver damage will heal 100%. But modern medicine knows that some, even a large percentage, of healing can happen. And since this organ powers such a large part of our life, why not keep it in tip-top shape? Especially when basic detoxing is so easy.

You don't need to detox constantly. What has been recommended to me by my holistic health practitioner is one thorough liver detox every six months. I usually do a liquids-only fasting detox. I'll add juices, herbs and teas depending upon what I feel my body needs at the moment. (Actually, I just linked some great detox recipes the other day; check my previous post. I am not affiliated with those sites, by the way.)

You may need more detoxing or a stronger initial detox. I'm not you. I can't give you the best recipe for you. But I can tell you that I, and virtually everyone I know who is on a liver detox regimen, experiences better health overall, and fewer of the complaints that did initially motivate us to seek out detox in the first place.

Most liver detox methods, such as juice fasting, are harmless. You should ask your doctor before proceeding with a fast as you may have some special issue I don't know about. But generally speaking, most people can fast or partially fast for a day or two and not experience any negative effects. For fasts that include herbs, research each herb before you add it. Again, herbs for liver detox tend to be generally harmless to the overall population, but knowledge is always power.

Got questions? Ask me! I love to talk all things detox! I welcome questions about my personal experiences with detox as well. Let me know.

Cleansing Your Body With a Juicer: Links to Great Recipes

Okay, I know what you're thinking -- Ron Popeil! (Or maybe Jack LaLane.) Goofy infomercials aside, juicers really are a great way to get healthy. And yes, you can put pretty much any fruit or vegetable into them. However, if you're looking for a body detox, you'll want plants that can do that for you.

I've gotten quite a few requests for great juicer recipes, so I'm going to list and link a bunch for you. I've tried most of these and for others, I've definitely tried the ingredients in varying amounts. These are foods I feel I can trust while doing a body detox. I hope they work for you. Cheers and bottoms up!

First, a Word on Juicers and Detox
You may be wondering if juicing works better than simply eating the fruits and veggies and if so, why.

It's true that general nutrition-wise, it's better to eat the entire food. That's because the whole food contains fiber, which is broken up and/or removed during the juicing process. And we all know that fiber is good for us in moderate amounts. (Be careful of overdoing fiber -- too much can cause severe tummy distress -- ask me how I know this.)

However, for detoxification of your liver, gallbladder and entire system, juicing does seem to be superior. From what I can gather during my years of research and actual use, this is because the actual phytonutrients you get are condensed; in other words, you can take in so much more of them than you could filling up on the whole food. And it's the phytonutrients we're looking at here for the detoxifying properties.

It's like taking a vitamin v. eating the whole food the vitamin was extracted from. You're just getting that much more of the active constituent(s).

When You're Not Detoxing, DO Eat the Whole Food
Keep in mind that even when you're not specifically detoxing, the whole (non-juiced) versions of these foods are quite good for you. So do keep eating your whole fruits and veggies, either during a juice fast in limited quantities, or during normal times, between detoxing.

And Without Further Ado - the Links
Okay, folks - time to get down and get juicy! Here are some great cleansing recipes.

Six great detox recipes for juicers -- the basic recipe serves as a good base no matter what ails you.
Green Detox Pressed Juice - the spinach, apples and ginger are the three biggies here for detoxification.
Nine detox recipes from The Naked Kitchen - the best here (IMO) are Best Face Forward and Refreshing Renewal.
Parsley Energy Explosion - a great one from The Juice Nut.
Daily Detox - substitute lunch with this juice three times a week and you'll feel fantastic. Or take it as breakfast; I personally like something sweeter (think fruits) for breakfast, but that's just my preference.
Clean and Green Colon Cleanser Juice - the recipe is for a blender but juicing will give this one even more punch. It says the parsley is optional but IMO, you should include it for a complete detox.
A Jason Vale detox regimen review.

Let me know how you like these. I lean toward the ones that include fruits as a personal preference (I'm a sweet-a-holic). Thanks for reading!

Green Tea Detox

I love green tea. (There. I said it and I am NOT ashamed.) Yum. It's got that earthy/herbal, clean taste that just can't be replicated with any other tea or food. And yes, it does give an energy boost, though not as drastic (read: jittery) as the one I get from caffeine.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, green tea.

Because I enjoy the taste so much, I was shocked to learn that green tea has multiple health benefits. In my world, at least up until that point, healthy equaled barely palatable. In those days, I was definitely not the girl who loved brussels sprouts and Evian and a wonderfully invigorating morning run.

But I found out this yummy drink is actually good for you. Green tea is generally quite minimally processed, retaining the plant's natural antioxidant properties. It also helps stimulate the immune system. And most important for the purpose of this post, it can help the body excrete toxins.

Here's how I do a green tea herbal cleanse (ask your doctor if you're okay to periodically fast before trying this method):

1. Eat a sensible dinner and then go to bed. Do not snack/eat after 7pm.
2. In the morning, brew a fairly strong to very strong cup of green tea. DO NOT add milk, sugar or sugar substitutes to the tea. Drink.
3. Just before lunchtime, brew another cup of green tea. Drink.
4. For lunch, have clear vegetable or chicken broth.
5. Fast again until dinner time, then have a light dinner of protein and vegetables. Do NOT have tea.

Eating minimally after taking the green tea helps the tea do its work on your digestive system without your body having to process other food items. It also eliminates the intake of toxins and additives you may normally consume during the day.

You should feel refreshed after your cleanse. The next day, eat sensibly -- don't pig out to make up for lost time. You should feel invigorated and well. If you're feeling funky, I wouldn't recommend this particular way to cleanse, but honestly, I've never heard of anyone feeling unwell after a green tea cleanse.

Let me know how it works out for you...I love to hear from ya!

Photo credit: sjsharktank