How To Do a Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse

Do I need a liver cleanse? What are the signs to look out for and how can you detoxify your liver?

In this day and age, I belief everyone needs to look after their liver and help the liver to detox on a regular base. Let me explain why….

The liver is an extraordinary organ, it’s like a chemical factory, breaking down food particles into molecules and atoms, from which it then builds new molecules and proteins to create hormones, antioxidants, neurotransmitters, enzymes etc. All the blood in our body circulates constantly through the liver, every minute a litre is filtered. It removes all toxins from the blood, detoxifies them into more harmless substances if possible, and stores these in the bile. The bile then gets stored in the gallbladder, and released into the small intestines when we eat something oily or fatty. There it breaks down those fats into smaller particles which can then get absorbed. The bile, with the toxins, then leaves our body with our faeces.

The liver works 24/7, every day of our life to metabolise and store nutrients, and supply all the cells in our body with what they need. Nowadays our livers are also very busy trying to detoxify all the toxins we are ingesting, inhaling and absorbing. This has become an overwhelming job because of poor diets full of fatty, sugary, refined and processed foods full of chemical additives, alcohol, air pollution, toxic fumes, pesticides, herbicides, toxic cleaning products, toxic skin care products, make up, and so on. On top of this, our ‘chronic stress lifestyle’ adds to the burden, creating an overload of cortisol. When the toxic load becomes more then the liver can handle, it will become overtaxed, stressed and sluggish.

When the liver gets overloaded, it can’t do it’s job properly anymore. It will be less efficient at:

-regulating blood glucose for energy, leaving you fatigued and with sugar cravings.

- detoxifying, binding and excreting hormones, leaving you with excess oestrogen and hormonal imbalances, PMS, mood swings, weight gain, menstrual problems etc.

-producing glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant. Glutathione binds to toxins and heavy metals, thus a lack of glutathione will leads to a build up of heavy metals and toxins in the body

-breaking down chemicals and histamines, which can lead to chemical sensitivities and allergies.

-melatonin metabolism, which we need for peaceful, regenerative sleep, thus creating difficulties with sleep.

-producing an adequate flow of high quality bile, which is needed to digest oils and fats so we can absorb them, and to relief the liver of toxins and toxic byproducts. Inadequate bile flow can also create dysbiosis, an imbalance in the gut flora, which can create bloating, gas and constipation. A healthy liver produces 1 litre of bile per day, enough to digest a healthy diet.

Other signs of an overloaded and sluggish liver are headaches, skin problems, nausea after fatty meals, dark circles under your eyes, depression, muscle and joint pain and stiffness, waking up between 2 and 3 am without any reason, elevated cholesterol levels and unexplained pain in the right side of the body (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, big toe).

As you can see, to preserve our health and quality of life, it is of utmost importance that we look after our liver. We can do this by firstly making sure we do not overload and stress our liver, and secondly by helping the liver to rid itself of build up toxicity.

Compare your liver to a pool filter, it needs a regular backwash to be able to keep the water (your body) clean. But if you don’t stop muddy runoff water from entering the pool, you keep stressing your filter.

To reduce the overload, we need to:

• Eliminate refined, fried, and processed foods and drinks, with chemical additives from our diet: biscuits, cakes, white bread and pasta, soft drinks, sugary drinks, baked goodies, lollies, chocolates etc. Basically, minimise all foods that have ingredients that you can hardly pronounce, that you could not make in your own kitchen, or that have no nutritional value.

• Substitute toxic and poor quality fats and oils like canola oil, vegetable oils, margarine and trans fats, for good quality oils and fats, like ghee, organic butter, coconut oil and olive oil.

• Reduce intake of all animal products (especially red and processed meats) and replace them with plant based, fresh, organic, proteins and whole foods, which will ensure you will meet your nutritional needs.

• Minimise coffee and alcohol intake.

• Start using non toxic cleaning products at home and at work

• Start using non toxic skin care, shampoos, make up etc.

• Manage your stress levels! Don’t think that you can continue to lead a very stressful life and not end up paying a price for it!

• Manage your screen time and digital toxic load.

• Get rid of parasites and Candida overgrowth, as they produce much toxicity and make life hard for your liver.

To cleanse and rejuvenate the liver:

• A series of colonics can turn everything around (I speak from experience!). Getting your colon cleaned out is so essential, it’s like cleaning out the sewage pipes, so that when you backwash your filter, the sludge can actually leave your body. Then keep it clean with weekly enemas and monthly maintenance colonics. Time to get yourself a Happy Bum Bag!

• Weekly coffee enemas will greatly increase glutathione production and bile flow in the liver. This helps the liver to mop up toxins and get them out.

• Start the day with a big glass of warm water and lemon juice

• Stay hydrated, drink plenty of filtered water and herbal teas

• Liver tonics with bitter herbs like Livatrex, (which we sell in clinic and in our online store).

• Drink juices. Celery juice is fantastic, but any vegetable juice will delight your liver.

• Regularly use binders, like bentonite clay, activated charcoal, diatomaceous earth and psyllium hulls. They bind to toxins in the gut, making sure they do not get reabsorbed, and leave the body with the faeces.

• Apply castor oil packs to the liver overnight. Castor oil is an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, decongestant for the lymphatic system, speeds up wound healing, improves circulation, stimulates motility of the colon, and draws out toxins.

Once you have integrated lots of the above into your life, you should see slow but steady improvement in all areas. Remember, looking after your liver is not a once a year option, it needs to become part of your life!

And then for those who still want to take it a step further, and really get out the big guns, there is ‘The amazing liver and gallbladder flush’, as recommended by Andreas Moritz. I highly recommend you read his book, ‘The amazing liver and gallbladder flush’(available as ebook), which in great detail explains the how and why of this protocol. As the liver gets overloaded, it stores the toxins in ‘liver stones’ and ‘gall stones’. These block the thousands of bile ducts in our liver and prevent the proper flow of the bile. Following his protocol will release many of these stones, free up the liver and gallbladder, create much better bile flow and reduce many symptoms of a sluggish, overloaded liver.

“Although the liver flush is not a cure for diseases, it sets the precondition for the body to heal itself. In fact, it is rare for an ailment not to improve by increasing liver performance.”(Excerpt from:The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush byAndreas Moritz).

This protocol will need to be repeated about once a month, until all the liver and gallbladder stones have been removed.

It is not for the faint hearted! Please consult your health practitioner before doing any liver cleansing, to make sure this is right for you, specially if you suffer from serious medical conditions and take medications.

What you need for one liver and gallbladder flush:

1 bottle of Livatrex liver tonic

4 litres of organic apple juice

4 tbsp of food grade Epsom salts (Wray Organics)

125 ml organic olive oil

180 ml fresh grapefruit/lemon juice

1 jar with lid to mix olive oil and grapefruit/lemon juice in

Preparations:

In the weeks before your flush:

-have a series of colonics to make sure your colon is clean and you can eliminate the stones easily.

-do a parasite cleanse if you haven’t done one in the last year.

4 days before your flush:

-mix the bottle of Livatrex into the 4 litres of apple juice, drink 1 litre per day on the 4 days before the flush.

On the day of the flush:

-have a colonic just before you do the flush, preferably on the day of the flush.

-don’t take any supplements or medication if you don’t have to. (If you do take medication it is recommended you do a kidney cleanse first)

-eat a non fat breakfast and lunch such as cooked cereal, fruit, baked potato or steamed veggies. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver.

-drink up to 4 litres of water before 2 pm to make sure you are really well hydrated.

The timing of the following is critical!

2.00 pm

-do not eat or drink after 2 pm, as small amount of water is ok.

-get the epsom salts ready. Mix 4 tbs in 750 ml water, divide into 4 glasses. This makes 4 servings of 185ml each. Keep in fridge if you prefer.

6.00 pm

-drink one serve of the epsom salt water, use a straw if you like.

8.00 pm

-drink the second serving of epsom salt water.

-get everything ready for bedtime now, brush teeth, get changed etc.

-put a bucket next to your bed, some people do get sick during the night.

9.30 pm

-squeeze the citrus, pour the citrus juice (no pulp) and the olive oil into a jar. Close the jar tightly and shake hard. Don’t drink just yet!

-if you did not get a colonic on this day, and you haven’t had a bowel movement since the Epsom salts, give yourself an enema now.

10.00 pm

-shake the jar again and drink the olive oil and citrus mix

-get it down within 5 minutes, while standing up right

-lie down immediately flat on your back with your head up high on your pillow

-lie still for for at least 20 minutes

-go to sleep.

Next morning

-upon awaking take your third dose of epsom salts, but not before 6.00 am, you may go back to bed

-2 hours later take your forth and last dose of Epsom salts, you may go back to bed.

-after 2 more hours you may start to eat. Start with fruit juice, some fruit later, keep it very light until dinner.

-have a colonic or a few enemas during the day to make sure you flush out all the stones.