Liver Detox Diet
The liver is an amazing organ. Tasked with removing toxins from the body, the liver acts as a natural filter. However, with today’s poor, overly processed dietary habits and overindulgence, it is easy for your liver to become overwhelmed and “clogged”.
The liver filters the toxins from the bloodstream, chemically changing them into harmless substances that can be excreted easily. As one of the largest and most important organs in the body, the liver’s efficiency is vital to overall health.
If the liver is unable to remove all of the harmful substances from the bloodstream, the toxins build up in our tissues and cause numerous health problems, including elevated cholesterol (and all of the problems related to high cholesterol), digestive problems including constipation, nausea and irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, depression and disruption of sugar levels within the bloodstream. Chronic fatigue and pain are often signs of a liver that is not functioning efficiently.
There are many herbal supplement plans on the market to help with liver detoxification. Many of them have great testimonials and are not too uncomfortable to use. Try to avoid the harsh colon cleansers and complete fasts, as these tend to “shock” your system and release a large volume of harmful substances into the bloodstream at one time.
You should always start with a simple less stressful plan for liver detox. Make a lifestyle change that will allow your liver to function more efficiently. First, have a liver detox diet that eliminate toxins from your diet and flush your system with filtered water. Eat organic foods and wash your fruits and vegetables carefully. Substitute organic, lean meats and fruits and vegetables in their natural form for processed foods. Switch to “liver healthy” foods that will support liver function: beats, artichokes, broccoli and cabbage, seaweed and radishes. Add a good multi-vitamin and support liver function with milk thistle, shown to regenerate liver cells.
Liver detoxification may be the answer if you are feeling achy and tired. Support your body’s natural filter and eat a liver healthy detox diet. You may be surprised at how much better you’ll feel.
Sandra Kim Leong owns the resource-rich site on detoxification and cleansing. She strongly believes that detoxification should form part of one’s regular health regime. Her site includes information on colon cleansing, kidney cleansing, detox diets, mercury detoxification, etc. For free articles and tips, please visit http://www.detox-cleansing.com.
Tags: Detox, detox diet, detoxification, liver cleanse, liver cleansing, liver detox, Liver DetoxificationDetox - Beneficial or Barbaric
It has been stated that detox diets and products - do neither harm, nor good!
What is Detox ? It is supposedly the cleansing of the kidneys, liver, bowel and stomach. It usually combines an eating and exercise program with herbal supplements…to purify and purge your body of all ‘toxins’. To cleanse the colon inner walls allowing larger amounts of waste matter to pass through the bowel. Detox - claims to prevent and cure diseases - giving you more energy - but…with no scientific proof!
These are short term diets - not aimed at weight loss - but rather to cleanse the system. They are not recommended for diabetics, those with low blood pressure, eating disorders or teenagers - as they do not provide sufficient fuel to support sports and physical activities. They can become addictive!
Why detox? Because the liver can become overloaded - especially when our lifestyles become unhealthy. The liver cleanses almost three litres of blood every minute - under ‘normal’ circumstances it can clear 99% of bacteria and other toxins from the blood before it re-enters the bloodstream. Symptoms of overloading the liver may include fatigue, low grade infections, flatulence, nausea, migraines, constipation, bags under the eyes, skin irritations, etc.
Some examples of detox plans include:
- ‘lemonade diet’ - where you have nothing much more than a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup - for a minimum of 10 days
- a 15 day ‘quick cleanse’ program - includes 24 natural herbs and 7 additional ingredients
- ‘dual action cleanse’ - a natural herbal formula - to act as a total body purifier and to unclog your colon
And many more…what they mainly have in common is that they usually include several days of liquid diet followed by eating organic raw fruit and vegetables - then gradually re-introducing other foods, but excluding red meat, wheat, sugar, eggs and packaged foods.
To ramp up these detox effects the diets also include laxatives, salt water drinks, digestive aids and tonics - to induce bowel movements. This is intended to regain vitality and lose weight.
Nowadays you just have to purchase a detox kit from the chemist, healthfood store, or supermarket shelf - swallow some supplements, follow the diet and wow - you are cleansed!
However….consider…
Fasting causes the body’s metabolism to slow down
Weight loss due to fasting is likely to be muscle tissue and water
You may feel tired, weak, nauseous, hungry - or experience headaches
Fasting can become addictive and may lead to eating disorders
Malnutrition may occur - if continued over extended periods
But - can years of drinking alcohol, over eating, eating the wrong foods, taking drugs - be magically reversed by a brief detox program?
Is fasting… purging… eliminating a lot of food groups… good for you?
If you’re looking for a quick fix solution - then it’s fine for short term.
But - how quickly we revert to our old habits.
The alternative…
Eat lots of fresh vegetables, vitamin C enriched foods - citrus fruit, strawberries, dark green vegetables
Eat Omega 3 foods - salmon, mackeral, sardines
Nuts and seeds
Herbs - milk thistle, tumeric, lecithin, dandelion, and globe artichoke - can all produce a protective and curative effect on liver damage
Stop smoking
Avoid drugs and medicines, exposure to chemicals
Drink 8 glasses of water
Do deep breathing
Or..perhaps something as simple as drinking freshly squeezed fruit juices - first thing in the morning on an empty stomach can be the healthy alternative - fruit acids are effective detoxifiers!
Gay Redmile is the webmaster of several health and wellbeing sites. For further important information on Detox visit her site at http://www.detoxinfosite.com or one of her wellbeing sites at http://newliposuctioninfo.com or http://www.acneinfohome.com.
Tags: colon cleansing.detoxing, Detox, detoxification, liver cleansing, purify, toxins