I have been asked this question many times and it has often been a controversial subject.

I was asked to be the protagonist for liver cleansing in The Great Liver Debate at a conference on hepatitis C in 2005. I was pitted against a professor of hepatology, so I had to be prepared. I never found out officially if I won the debate because the adjudicator was a liver specialist who asked the audience to clap harder with their right hand if they thought I won or to clap harder with their left hand if they voted for the professor. So, it was a bit of a fun debate designed to entertain a room of over 100 liver specialists.

I do think it is worth cleansing your liver if you have symptoms of liver dysfunction which can include – difficulty losing weight, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, sluggish gallbladder function, bloating, fatigue, overheating, bad breath, itchy skin or rashes, high cholesterol and excess inflammation.

Your liver is a physical filter, and all filters need periodical cleansing. Some health commentators on the internet say that the liver is not a filter – they are wrong. Obviously, they don’t know about the lifelong research of Professor Robyn Fraser who was an emeritus professor at the University of Otago New Zealand. Professor Fraser showed under the electron microscope just how intricate the cellular structure of the liver filter is. I was an avid follower of his research and had several conversations with him.

Your liver receives all the blood from your gut and this can contain bacteria, parasites, chemicals, microplastics, unhealthy cells and incompletely digested food, especially if you have a leaky gut. The liver filter traps all these unwanted things before they can get deeper into your body. The detoxification pathways inside the liver cells then turn these dangerous toxins into water-soluble safer substances that can then be excreted from the body in watery fluids such as the urine, bile, sweat and saliva. If your liver does not do this, they stay in your body and overload your immune system causing inflammation. The liver filter also contains special cells (macrophages) which engulf and destroy unwanted rubbish trapped by the liver filter.

Your body is a combustion engine and creates waste products of metabolism which build up in the blood stream. The liver breaks down these internally produced waste products and also all the environmental toxins we are now exposed to.

I have recently seen the benefits of a liver cleansing and low carbohydrate diet in two of my patients who live in the country town of Temora.

Beverly is a woman in her late 70s and over 5 months has lost 35 pounds in weight – this was loss of body fat and not muscle. She also cured her reflux and asthma and now she no longer needs to be dependent on strong antacid drugs and inhalers.

Michelle is in her 60s and has lost 30 pounds over 4 months – this was loss of body fat and not muscle. She had very elevated liver enzymes indicating severe liver inflammation and also suffered with chronic fungal infection of her toenails. Her liver enzymes have come down dramatically and her toenails are no longer infected. She has been able to reduce the amount of medication she was taking.

Both these patients took the supplements Livatone Plus and N-Acetyl-Cysteine.

Both Beverly and Michelle had a fatty liver and insulin resistance which were damaging their health in many ways.

Things you can do to cleanse your liver

  • The 12-week Liver Cleansing Diet
  • Boost your liver’s production of glutathione by taking a supplement of N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC).
  • Take a comprehensive liver formula such as Livatone Plus containing milk thistle, selenium, B vitamins, taurine, glycine, and vitamin C as this will support the several detoxification pathways inside your liver cells.
  • Increase the number of polyphenols you consume from brightly colored vegetables and fruits. Good colors to eat are yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green.
  • Increase the production of sulforaphane in your liver by eating foods high in sulphur such as cruciferous vegetable, shallots, onion, garlic. Sprouting broccoli seeds boosts sulforaphane and they are nice in salads.
  • Eggs are high in the sulphur bearing amino acid methionine which the liver requires to detoxify.
  • Make sure you consume adequate amounts of omega 3 essential fatty acids as they are vital for healthy liver cell membranes. They are found in oily fish, pasture raised ruminant meat and krill oil supplements. 

So, if you are struggling with excess weight, fatigue and inflammation, or some mystery illness, and your doctor cannot pinpoint the cause, think about your liver. Chinese traditional medicine calls the liver “The General of the Army of the body” and they are right, the liver directs and balances other organs, and it needs to be working efficiently.

 

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.