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10 Realistic And Natural Ways To Regularly Detox And Care For Your Liver

Why is liver cleansing (and gut health) so crucial to your happiness, performance and quality of life?

Your humble liver is a vital organ in your body, performing over 400 functions! The proper functioning of your liver is essential to good health.

It acts as a filter, by sifting through every single thing that comes into your body. It gets rids of anything toxic that isn’t required and protects you with all its might throughout your life.

Your liver works to break down proteins, remove damaged blood cells and it also holds a vast amount of your energy, daily vitamins and iron.

Your liver is also key, frontline immune tissue.

Ideally positioned to detect pathogens entering the body via the gut, the liver appears designed to detect, capture, and clear bacteria, viruses, and macromolecules. Containing the largest collection of phagocytic cells in the body, this organ is an important barrier between us and the outside world (1).

That’s why it’s Smart to lover your liver heading into winter and to keep your immune system strong and alert!

It's also your main fat burning organ, so when it's backed up with toxins.... it will eventually spill fat into your fat cells. Or in more extreme cases of neglect, deposit them in its own cells leading to things like stage 1 fatty liver. Don't want that to happen.

The more stress and strain we put on our liver, through our lifestyle and nutrition choices, the more work it has to do to remove these toxins and the more strain on both it and our immune and lymphatic system.

If you’ve overwhelming and burdening your liver, you’ll

  1. feel sluggish

  2. have digestive issues

  3. mood swings

  4. fluid retention

  5. pains and body aches

  6. dark urine

  7. nausea

  8. fatigue

  9. and you will gain weight just to name a few symptoms

It’s so important to care for your liver and regularly detox it, to ensure that you’re enjoying optimal health.

Are you ready this July to cleanse your liver?

1 - Take a break from alcohol this Dry July

Alcohol is clearly one of the biggest toxic strains on the liver. Your liver doesn’t determine between ‘healthy’ alcohol like red wine and the more serious stuff. It simply doesn’t like any of it!

The best way to start cleansing your liver is to take a break from alcohol altogether. Give yourself at least a few weeks to abstain from the booze. Try kombucha instead! The Remedy brand from woollies is really good. Low carb too.

 

2 – Complete a body detox program

One of the most efficient ways to detox your liver is with a complete body cleanse. Our 14 Day Cleanse walks you step-by-step to safely and effectively detox your body, with a strong focus on detoxing your liver in week 2.

When choosing a detox program, aim for organic ingredients with a naturopathic and scientific foundation to ensure you’re taking safe, healthy steps to cleanse your body and liver.

Gut focused detoxification using our 3 steps of weed, seed and feed proves to achieve the best results for both wellness, weight loss, gut and liver function optimisation.

 

3 - Flush it out with plenty of water

Your liver really benefits from clean filtered drinking water. Aim to drink water that has been filtered, and try adding lemon to your water for a boost of liver loving Vitamin C. The minerals in lemons will boost the cleansing process and enhance liver detoxifying enzymes. Any citrus will.

Try to wake every morning with warm water and lemon and take your Smart Cleanse Vanilla Bentonite Drinking Clay with it to flush out your gut, your liver and prep your body for more effective digestion and assimilation of nutrients.

Toxins just get in the way so this ritual will mop them up like a magnet. You can also add chia seeds into a glass of water soon after and that and every few days use Smart Cleanse Colon Cleanse, which works like a broom sweeping the toxins out of your digestive tract, absorbing cholesterol and benefiting your gut microbiome.

 

4 - Eat organic foods with a focus on a plant-based diet

One of the most effective ways to support your liver and achieve optimal health is with nutrition. Aim for a mostly plant based diet, rich in organic vegetables and some fruit. Some of the best vegetables for liver health are carrots, ginger, garlic, beetroot and any dark leafy green. Of course I'm a big protein advocate so go for fish, chicken, lean grass-fed meats as they are rich in amino acids and proteins that feed into and support phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification pathways.

 

5 - Support your liver with high quality B vitamins

Not all vitamin supplements are made equal! Choose a high quality Vitamin B supplement, made from plant based sources to further support your liver health. B vitamins and selenium help the liver by metabolising substances in the body that work to support the liver detox process.

All B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins are not stored *(except for B12) and must be consumed daily to maintain levels sufficient for optimal liver health.

They also feed into the Krebs Cycle which is a cycle in your cells that produced ATP or energy. So if you are low on energy than you could be low on B vitamins.

Bioceuticals or Metagenics in most pharmacies or available through a naturopathic consultation with myself are my two favourite other practitioner brands other than Smart Cleanse.

Important to note too that regular over-consumption of alcohol and stress can cause B deficiency (especially B1) so take a good multi B vitamin daily for life.

 

6 - Go sugar-free

Quitting sugar is one of the best ways to speed up the detox process on the liver. The liver is the only organ that can break down fructose, so when we overburden it with a high sugar diet, it has to work overtime to remove the toxic build up.

Too much refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup causes a fatty buildup that can lead to liver disease. Some studies show that sugar can be as damaging to the liver as alcohol, even if you're not overweight.

Alcohol is a major cause of fatty liver disease as well as other liver diseases and alcohol at the end of the day is pure sugar. Stay away from sugary foods such as candy, cookies, sodas, and fruit juices. High blood sugar increases the amount of fat build up in the liver. Stress will spike your insulin too, leading to a build up of fat in your liver.

Try going sugar free and limiting the amount of processed foods that often have hidden sugar in them.

  

7 - Add herbs to your meals

Herbs are a powerful way to help detox your liver. Some of the best herbs for liver health include dandelion root, milk thistle, organic turmeric and peppermint. Herbs found in Smart Cleanse. Add them to your meals or sip on peppermint or dandelion root tea. Much better than caffeine all the time.

 

8 - Quit processed or packaged foods

Just as important as it is to eat organic whole foods, it’s vital that you remove any processed or packaged foods from your diet where possible. These foods are filled with unnatural preservatives, trans fats and other nasties, that simply overwhelm the liver with added toxins. Aim for whole foods where possible to ensure you’re reducing the strain on your busy working liver.

Nutrient deficient processed food also robs nutrients from your cells and cause deficiencies. That’s why it’s important to incorporate at least some organic produce into your diet. Especially certain vegetables and fruits that are heavily sprayed and pesticide contaminated – onions, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, spinach and lettuces, celery, cherries, nectarines, raspberries, grapes and strawberries, apples, and peaches. So just be aware and see if you can go organic with just some of these veggies and fruits.

 

9 - Get moving regularly

Regular exercise can help speed up the detoxification process in the liver and help carry out more toxins. Aim for regular daily movement, mixed in with short high intensity bursts. If you have any form of liver disease alcohol or non- alcohol related, they also say lose 10 % of your body weight with diet and exercise (and of coure cleansing) to ensure that your fatty liver doesn’t progress to something more serious.

 

10 - Practice daily dry skin brushing

Daily dry brushing can further support your kidneys and liver in detoxing. Dry brushing is simply using a large dry brush and creating circular motions on your body. This helps to clear toxins from your lymphatic system, improve circulation and supporting your liver.

Remember to love your liver, because it’s the only one you’ve got! You can kick start your detox and support your liver with our 14 Day Smart Cleanse.

 

Here's what our customer's say about 14 Day Smart Cleanse

"I have just finished 14 Day Smart Cleanse and feel amazing. Since completing chemo last August, I was able to get on top of my digestive issues as due to bloating I looked 9 months pregnant! Full of fluid, drinking lots of water and taking a weaker probiotic was making no difference. Now, my digestive system is functioning much better, bloating is gone, and my skin is now glowing and back to normal. I have so much energy! I wasn't planning on losing weight either but have lost 5 kgs without effort. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

- Jeannette Standbury Rose

 

Reference

(1) Kubes, P & Jenne P. Immune Responses in the Liver, Annual Reviews, 2018, (36): 247 - 277

  

See you in the challenge! Love your liver and gut!