Show Your Liver Some Love
Continuing along on our look at drainage pathways, we’re moving up the funnel from the colon to the liver and bile ducts (if you scroll back to the image of the drainage funnel I posted, you’ll note this level also includes the kidneys, lungs, and skin).
Your liver deserves some love because it is responsible for a multiplicity of functions in the body including: Detoxifying medicines, bacteria and other harmful substances including environmental toxins; transforming cholesterol to carry fats through the body; synthesizing proteins for blood plasma as well as bile for supporting digestion; storing and releasing glucose; processing hormones, bilirubin and hemoglobin; regulating blood clotting; and producing lymph for immune support.
Here’s a few ways to show your liver some love:
Castor oil packs. Castor oil packs are one of my favorite self-care tools. Placed over the liver, the castor oil improves drainage and detox. The heat from a castor oil pack increases blood flow and may improve oxygenation to target tissues increase the lymph flow throughout the body, which eliminates toxins and helps reduce swollen lymph nodes. Added bonus, it’s a great way to sneak in 20 minutes of relaxation in your day!
Coffee enemas. Enemas encourage the natural production of glutathione, your body’s master antioxidant which protects the liver from free radical damage and reduces oxidative stress. The coffee also causes the bile ducts to dilate so that more toxins can be excreted through bile into the intestines for exit out of the body. At the same time the theophylline and theobromine in the coffee cause dilation of the blood vessels, allowing more blood to pass through the system for filtering by the liver. That’s a whole lot of bang for your buck!
Eat more cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, broccoli sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale, and mustard greens are not only high in fiber, they are also high in beneficial plant compounds that scientists believe can support liver health.
Eliminate the things that burden your liver. Things that increase the burden on the liver include: alcohol, caffeine (exception: King coffee which is certified organic and mold-free and has the healing goodness of reishi spores), fried foods, processed foods, and added sugar. It is believed that personal care products also burden the liver due to the number of chemicals they contain. If you’ve been considering making the switch to clean, non-toxic beauty and cleaning products, don’t wait!
King coffee (reishi coffee). The Ganoderma (reishi) spores in King Coffee are anti-bacterial, anti-candida, anti-parasitic, and anti-viral—trust me, you want this morning cup of goodness! Want to try out King or take the plunge and make the swap? Find out how here.
Remove pathogens (bacteria, candida, parasites) and remove environmental toxins (mold and chemical exposure). Pathogens and toxins slow down your liver function.
Supplement. My favorite supplements for liver support are from Cellcore: Advanced TUDCA (improves bile flow and digestion, includes NAC, the precursor to glutathione, your body’s master antioxidant) and KL Support which supports the kidneys and liver which includes some liver loving herbs and NAC. To try Advanced TUDCA or KL Support, you’ll need to use my email address and practitioner code to create an account at Cellcore. Hop on over to IG and DM me for my practitioner code and a discount code or find my practitioner code in my Roadmap To Wellness.