Recently, I experienced some low back achiness, a tenderness on the right side of my abdomen under my ribs and some restless sleep in the middle of the night. After a little research and talking to Nathalie, I realized that these are all symptoms of an unhappy liver. I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s unhappy and I can’t come up with a single answer, but perhaps (and more likely) it’s not just one thing. Like many things in life, it can’t be compartmentalized, but rather layer over layer of events and activities, decisions and stressors.
Rather than dwell on the why, I focused on the ways to heal. I decided to do a liver and gallbladder flush (see below for a list of ingredients and more details at www.drclarkstore.com). In addition, I started to get more exercise to help get extra oxygen in my body and get the blood to move the toxins out. I’ve also been drinking beet juice, green tea and lots of water with lemon (all beneficial to the liver) and eating more avocados, red kale, and fish. These certainly aren’t the only foods that are beneficial to the liver, they just happen to be the ones that I had on hand (other beneficial foods are sour flavored and/or green colored foods and herbs. Dandelion greens, beetroot, green bell pepper, peas, sprouts, bok choy, string beans, cabbage, zucchini, and mung beans are a few others). And finally, I made an appointment to get some acupuncture treatment and added some Chinese herbal supplements to my daily routine. All of which have helped tremendously… my back and abdomen feel better and my sleep has been more sound and restful. Hopefully I’m on my way back to a more happy and healthy liver : )
Ingredient List for Liver and Gallbladder Flush
STEP 1 Schedule 2 days to complete the Liver Flush – Start on a day that allows you to rest the following day. STEP 2 Prepare for a zero-fat diet – For best results stop eating fat and protein the night before you begin the Flush. On day 1, continue eating a zero-fat breakfast and lunch. For best results, finish eating by 12 PM with only sips of water thereafter. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver. Higher pressure pushes out more toxins. Limit the amount of food you eat to the minimum you can get by on. You will purge more toxins if you do. STEP 3 Assemble supplies not included in the Liver Cleanse kit 1) Fresh pink grapefruit – 1 large or 2 small, enough to squeeze ½ cup juice. Wash grapefruit twice in hot water and dry before cutting it open. You can substitute lemon juice for grapefruit juice. Squeeze 1 lemon and add enough water to make ½ cup of liquid. Adding natural sweetener is optional. 2) 1 pint (½ liter) jar with lid 3) Make sure you have at least ½ cup Olive Oil on hand. Light Olive Oil is easier to get down. Choose Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it is cold pressed. 4) Honey (optional for sweetening) STEP 4 Organize items on the supply list 1) Pint jar (½ liter) with lid 2) Epsom Salt – 60 capsules Magnesium Sulfate OR 4 tablespoons Epsom Salt crystals 3) Olive Oil – ½ cup 4) Citric Acid – ½ teaspoon 5) Vitamin C – ½ teaspoon (if using Epsom Salt crystals) 6) Fresh pink grapefruit (or lemon) – enough to squeeze ½ cup juice 7) Honey – 1 tablespoon (optional) 8) Ornithine – 4 to 8 capsules (don’t skip this or you may have difficulty relaxing) 9) Large drinking straw 10) Black Walnut Hull – 1 teaspoon tincture OR 2 capsules