My biz partner and I are teaching holistic detoxification workshops all over the Bay Area (mostly in San Francisco) right now, and we are proud as punch of all the participants who are getting great results! Liver cleansing has become very trendy for folks wanting to look and feel younger, thinner, or just to improve health and vitality.
Your liver is your hardest working organ and when it is overworked, symptoms can result: everything from headaches to joint pain to constipation, weight gain, and fatigue. A clogged liver is not able to detoxify as it should, and toxins build up in your body, leading to imbalance and eventually, chronic illness. But if you’re not ready for a cleanse, or if you’ve just finished, here are some every day tips to maintain the benefits of your cleanse, or just to improve liver health.
1. Upon arising in the morning, drink a cup of warm to hot water with the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon and a pinch of cayenne. This is an incredibly alkalinizing drink that thins the bile to “gets things moving,” primes the digestive juices, and is very cleansing for the liver. Many folks reach for coffee in the mornings so they can have a morning poop. Put down your coffee and try the lemon drink– it really works! Then have a cup of green tea. MUCH better for your health. Coffee ages you. Really, it does. Green tea makes you look younger.
very cleansing.
2. Make sure you’re drinking water, at least 64 oz daily. Add cucumber slices or lemon to make tasty water. Water is the elixir of life and flushes toxins from your system. Subtle dehydration slows your metabolism and causes fatigue. Drink tea. Try green tea, kombucha, herbal teas with dandelion root, or a detox tea blend.
3. Get enough fiber, at least 25 grams (30 is ideal) daily. Average American only gets 7 grams! No wonder we’re a toxic, overweight nation. Fiber keeps blood sugar balanced, makes for regular poops, keeps your weight in check, and binds to toxins, whisking them out of the gut (nature’s colonic). Refined, skeletonized foods (think hamburgers, pizza, packaged foods) lack fiber. What does 30 grams of fiber look like? A vegetable or fruit smoothie with ground flax (10grams); a green salad with black beans, chicken, and chopped veggies (15); sauteed kale, baked yam with coconut butter, roasted salmon, cultured kraut for probiotics (10 grams). Dessert: date and coconut roll (4 grams). Snack on apples and almonds (5 grams).
4. Use a green superfood blend that includes chlorella, spirulina, and concentrated greens like grasses, kale, spinach, etc. I like Vitamineral Green, but there are so many on the market out there. Take a tablespoon a day. Add to smoothies. These blends offer trace minerals, cleanse the liver, and give you a boost!
5. Incorporate these liver-friendly foods into your diet: broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke, beets & beet greens, kale/collards/spinach/dandelion greens, onions & garlic, eggs, carrots, olive oil, ginger, apples, to name a few.
6. Detox your life: get rid of chemical-laden body care products, cosmetics, and cleaning products. Eat organic. Your liver must detoxify everything you eat, breathe, and apply to your skin. Treat it with care!
Mary Vance is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and author specializing in digestive health. She combines a science-based approach with natural therapies to rebalance the body. In addition to her 1:1 coaching, she offers courses to help you heal your gut and improve your health. Mary lives in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in Northern California. Read more about her coaching practice here and her background here.
