Liver Cleansing

One of the main functions of the liver is to remove and breakdown toxins from the blood. It also metabolizes ingested drugs, including pharmaceutical drugs and alcohol.

This imposes a large burden on the liver day to day - liver cleansing is an effective way to give your liver a break and allow it to work more effectively. In other words, your liver is your filter and it functions best when cleaned out once in a while.

Cleansing the liver of gall stones also dramatically aids digestion, which in turn improves general health.

How Does Liver Cleansing Work?

To remove gall stones from the liver is a process of several stages. Stage one involves drinking lots of apple juice. The pectin in the juice helps to soften and flatten the stones in the gall bladder and liver. This helps their eventual passage through the bile ducts.

The most important part of a liver cleanse is drinking olive oil and fruit juice, late at night before sleeping. The act of lying down in bed allows the oil to go into your liver and gall bladder. This temporarily overloads the organs, causes a reaction in which the stones are expelled.

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Of course, the expulsion of these stones has the potential to be a very painful process. So the addition of Epsom salts opens the bile ducts nice and wide, so the stones (already flattened by the apple juice) to pass through freely.

The grapefruit and lemon juice are used to produce more bile in the liver, trapping fat molecules and allowing them to be easily secreted. It also helps to decrease your appetite.

Liver Cleansing Techniques

Cleansing the liver of gall stones dramatically aids digestion, which in turn improves general health. Here are the 3 stages in a successful liver cleanse:

Stage 1: Prepare for the cleanse by drinking fresh apple juice for 3 days. Meals should be small amounts of raw salad or unprocessed fruit.

Stage 2: Buy the liver cleanse ingredients:

Epsom Salts, 4 tablespoons mixed in 4 cups of water

Olive Oil

Fresh Grapefruit juice and Lemon juice

Stage 3: Do the cleanse. Choose a Saturday if possible! Here is the routine you should follow -

(i) Eat a very light breakfast and lunch of fruit and vegetables.

(ii) At 6pm, drink 1 cup of the Epsom Salt water. Repeat at 8pm.

(iii) At 10pm, mix the fruit juices and one cup of olive oil. Drink it, go to bed and get a good sleep while the cleanse does its work!

(iv) At 7am, drink 1 cup of the Epsom Salt water. Repeat at 9am and finish the mixture.

(v) Eat only light fruits and vegetables for the rest of the day. Your liver should be cleansed of gall stones and by the evening you should feel great!

Foods to Eat

Unrefined Complex Carbohydrates

Important as they provide vitamins, trace minerals, fiber, and protein. These include brown rice, oatmeal, and wholemeal, barley, and rye products.

Fruits

Fruits contain important antioxidants and necessary dietary fiber. Apples, pears and oranges are particularly high in pectin which is a great intestinal tract cleanser. Watermelon is also great - it contains important vitamins and minerals such as lycopene, beta carotene, zinc, and selenium.

Vegetables

All veggies contain the vitamins and minerals necessary for a healthy body and liver. Legumes, cabbage, garlic and onions contain high amounts of sulfur - this is great for the liver by locking on to metallic toxins and excretes them.

Nuts and Seeds

Raw organic nuts provide good fats to the body as well as vitamin E, potassium, and folic acid. Flaxseed oil is extremely high in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are powerful antioxidants and also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Foods to avoid

All meat, fish, and dairy products

Fried foods

Soft drinks

Alcohol

Coffee and tea

Sugar or sugar substitutes

Margarine

Vinegar

Pickles

White flour products

White rice

Drinks to help your liver

Fresh veggie and fruit juice, lemon water, dandelion tea, rice and almond milk.

Liver Supplements

Milk Thistle

This herb cleanses and protects the liver from toxic substances such as alcohol, drugs, heavy metals, pollution and pesticides.

Dandelion Root

This herb increases bile production in the liver, helping digestion.

Liver Detox Drink Recipe

This a delicious easy drink to make. Add all ingredients into the blender and voila!

A handful of spinach

1 apple

1 banana

1 lemon (squeezed)

Half a chili pepper (optional)

1 garlic clove or as much as desired (optional)

1 glass of water

JUICE CLEANSING

A juice fast is great way to nurture your body, rebuild your immune system and restore yourself to a healthy way of living.

Raw fruit and vegetable juice contains many cleansing elements such as minerals, vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants to heal and detoxify the body safely.

Little energy is used by your digestive system during the cleanse, allowing the body to focus on rebuilding, renewing and healing. You might be surprised by how much energy you have after the first few days!

Is Juice Cleansing for Everyone?

Since juicing fulfills most of the body's nutrient requirements, your energy levels should remain high enough on this cleanse to continue working.

Ideally a juice fast should be done on a break in countryside or at the beach Getting in touch with nature while cleansing is the ultimate purifying and revitalizing experience. Its certainly possible to fit a juice cleanse around your everyday life too though.

If you can manage it, 3-10 days on this cleanse is enough to detox and heal the body. If you to plan to do longer, it is advisable to get professional supervision.

Juice Cleansing Instructions

You must only use freshly squeezed fruit, veggies and herbs. Try experimenting with combinations of beets, celery, carrots, apples, cucumber, garlic, ginger, cilantro, wheatgrass and cayenne pepper. All are excellent for cleansing. See our recipes page for some ideas.

It’s actually best to use a variety of different ingredients and vary your juices as much as possible - they all contain different important cleansing properties.

If you are juicing at home, you can add the also pulp from the juiced vegetable to make a broth. Just add water to a pot with the pulp and simmer for 15-20 minutes, then season the broth with cayenne pepper.

If you don’t have a juicer, you can buy the juice in your local health supermarket or juice bar.

Stages in a Juice Cleanse

A few days before the cleanse, try to change your diet to as many raw vegetables and fruits as possible. When you restrict your diet to juice only, it will be less of an adjustment.

When you are on the cleanse, drink 32-64 ounces of fresh squeezed juice per day plus 8 glasses of water to flush out toxins from your body. If you feel you need more juice that is ok. If you would like less, you can dilute the juice with water. A few things you must avoid - all other beverages (e.g. sodas, coffee or tea) and obviously no solid foods whatsoever!

Since you won't be consuming any fiber during your juice cleanse, it is important to take something that will stimulate your colon and prevent the toxins from being reabsorbed back into the body. A night time laxative tea is effective to get things moving. Psyllium husk and Bentonite clay are also excellent for drawing out toxins from the body.

Easing off a juice flush is important. It is best to start with raw salads and fruit for a few days, plus maybe some lightly steamed vegetables with brown rice. Don't go straight back on to the junk food!

Recipes:

Here are a couple of ideas to get you started. See more on our juice recipe ideas page.

KIDNEY CLEANSER

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks

2 tomatoes

1 lemon, peeled

2 carrots

Water

SKIN CLEANSE

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber with skin

1/2 bunch Fresh Parsley

1 4-oz. tub Alfalfa Sprouts

4 Sprigs Fresh Mint

Water

BLOOD BUILDER (IRON-ENRICHED)

Ingredients:

2 bunches Grapes

6 Oranges

8 Lemons peeled

1/4 cup Honey

Water

THE MASTER CLEANSE

Made famous by Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Master Cleanse is one of the hottest cleanses in Hollywood. Beyonce even used it to slim down for her movie 'Dreamgirls'.

This cleanse is so popular not just because of its powerful detoxing properties, but also because its a great way to lose a few pounds and get in shape.

It is not an easy cleanse though - the Master Cleanse is a fast regimen, with nutrition provided by a combination of lemon, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Its hard work but the results are worth it!

How does the Master Cleanse work?

The Master Cleanse's strange set of ingredients may leave you wondering 'why am I eating this?'. Well there is some very sound reasoning behind it. Let me run through each ingredient and tell you the specific benefits that it can give you.

Maple Syrup

Although you may normally just pour it on your waffles, Grade B maple syrup contains a variety of minerals and vitamins. These include iron, chlorine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, phosphorus, sulfur and silicon not to mention Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C. Also present is Pantothenic acid, a type of B-Vitamin that can lower cholesterol.

As you can see, adding good quality maple syrup to your cleanse actually provides you with many of the vitamins and minerals that you need during a short-term cleanse.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is used to produce more bile in the liver, trapping fat molecules and allowing them to be easily secreted. It also helps to decrease your appetite.

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper increases metabolism and aids digestion. It is also a good source of Vitamins A, B, C, Calcium and Potassium.

Purified Water

The benefits of water need little explanation. It speeds your metabolism, cleans your internal organs and even helps you live longer!

How to do the Master Cleanse?

Otherwise known as the Lemonade Diet or the Maple Syrup Diet, this cleanse involves a fast of 10-14 days, with nutrition provided by a drink of Maple Syrup, Lemon Juice and Cayenne Pepper. Each day on the cleanse should follow the same routine:

MORNING

Each morning you should do a salt water flush. This is a simple way to do a colon cleanse, by drinking lukewarm water with non-iodized sea salt, that is excellent in conjunction with the Master Cleanse.

The salt detoxifies the entire digestive system and flushes out any impurities and toxins so they won't be reabsorbed back into the body. It isn't the most pleasant experience but the results are worth it so be strong!

Recipe - one serving

32 Oz of lukewarm water

2 teaspoons of non-iodized sea salt (iodized salt will not work)

Drink when you get up and on an empty stomach, otherwise the salt will be competing with undigested food. Around 1 hour later eliminations should commence. It's best to set aside 2 hours before you go out, to prevent any accidents

DAYTIME

Drink the Master Cleanse juice several times a day, whenever thirsty or hungry. You can also drink pure water by itself, but no other foods. You can either make the drinks whenever you need them, or make a jug in the morning to last all day. Here are the recipes:

Recipe - one serving

2 tablespoons organic Lemon Juice

2 tablespoons organic Grade B Maple Syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)

2 pinches Cayenne Pepper

10oz Purified Water

Recipe - whole day

12 tablespoons organic Lemon Juice

12 tablespoons organic Grade B Maple Syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

60oz Purified Water

EVENING

The last step each day is to take a herbal laxative tea. One made with Senna will do the trick, and you can buy this from most health food stores. Since there is no fiber in the cleanse, the Senna is needed to stimulate muscle contraction of the colon.

Without the laxative tea, the toxins and waste products forced out by the Master Cleanse will stay in your body, so make sure you drink it each evening before you go to sleep.

WARM BROCCOLI SOUP

This hearty and filling soup is all goodness, and it tastes great too!
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1/2 Avocado
6 -8 Decent size Broccoli Heads
1/3 Red Onion
1 Celery Stick
Big Handful of Spinach
An Inch of Root Ginger

Recipe:
Lightly steam the broccoli, for 5-6 minutes. Place it and all the other ingredients in a blender. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

POACHED RED SNAPPER ON KALE WITH RED PEPPER COULIS

Did you think that cleansing food needs to be bland and tasteless? Well here's the proof that its not!
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
6 four-ounce pieces of red snapper
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic, chopped
2 pounds of kale
2 red peppers
1 cup basil

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place the snapper pieces in a shallow baking tray, covered with water, and add the lemon juice, peppercorns and bay leaf. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the fish is cooking, sauté the kale with olive oil and garlic. Place the kale on plates - this is the base of the dish. Now broil the peppers until blackened. Remove the skin and seeds, dice, and sauté the pieces with olive oil and basil. Allow to cool and puree.
To complete the dish, divide the Kale between 6 plates. Place the fish on top, and drizzle the coulis!

CLEANSING VEGETABLE BROTH

Many people believe that foods rich in the alkaline minerals sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium help to neutralize toxic acids that can harm the body. This soup is overloaded with all those ingredients and should help you feel great!

Ingredients:

2 cup carrot tops

2 cups celery tops

2 cups beet tops

2 quarts distilled water

3 cups celery stalk

3 cups water

2 cups red skinned potato peeling 1/2 inch thick

1 small zucchini

Recipe:

Chops all the vegetables into small pieces. Place them in a pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, with the lid on, for 30 minutes.

CREAMLESS SPINACH SOUP

This simple soup will revitalize your system as part of a Detox diet.
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1 pound of spinach
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced leek
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

Recipe:
Sauté the onions, carrots, celery, leek in a pot with the oil and garlic.
Add the water and Thyme, simmer for one hour then leave to cool for one hour.
Puree in a blender, then put back in the pot on medium heat.
Add the spinach, cook until it wilts, and serve hot!

BEAUTY AND CLEANSING

There are many surprising ways in which cleansing can make you more beautiful. Some you may have heard of, for example weight loss and improved complexion. But there are several other benefits that you may not have considered. Read on to find out what a good cleanse can do for you!

STRONGER NAILS & SHINIER HAIR

Your hair and nails need a steady supply of nutrients to grow and remain strong. But if your bloodstream contains toxins, they can make your hair dull and nails soft.

Doing a cleanse makes sure that they get only the right nutrients, and will do them far more good than a host of expensive cosmetic products!

REDUCED BODY ODOR

If you suffer from body odor, it is actually possible to tell which cleanse you need, just by the particular smell of that odor. For example, an oily smell means liver problems, while a rotten odor suggests issues with your kidney. Doing the right cleanse will restore the organ to health and get rid of that odor!

CURED HALITOSIS & BAD BREATH

If you have bad breath, the first thing to check is your oral hygiene. However, some people also suffer from bad breath related to a toxic colon.

REDUCED CELLULITE

Cellulite affects more than 90% of adult women. There are several causes, but one of the most important is the level of toxins in your system.

The first place that your body stores dietary toxins is in the cells just under your skin. Poisoning these cells with junk food and soda can disrupt this layer of cells, causing the cellulite. Cleansing can reverse this process.

WEIGHT LOSS

A happy side effect of cleansing, and the healthy low fat diet that precedes and follows a cleanse, is usually weight loss. Juices and raw vegetables are healthy foods and great for your diet, so remember when your cleansing that a healthy system is only one of the great results that you can expect!

FLAT STOMACH

Have you ever had to put your skinny jeans back in the closet because you feel bloated? Cleansing can help! A healthy, functioning gastro-intestinal system reduces bloating and flattens your stomach, before you even start losing weight.

GLOWING COMPLEXION

Princess Diana was one of the first public advocates of Colonics - she used them three times a week to get her glowing complexion. If you're feeling washed out, tired and looking haggard, chances are that a revitalizing cleanse will restore your skin to health.

MORE BEAUTIFUL EYES

Your eyes are a map of your body - problems elsewhere are reflected by redness and dark rings around the pupil. A good cleanse will restore your internal systems to health, replace any grayness or redness in your eyes with a sparkling white, and perhaps even lighten up the color of your iris!

Why do a colon cleanse?

The body has it's own natural ways of detoxing itself - however in this day and age, no matter how careful we are, accumulating harmful substances is unavoidable. Research suggests a detox diet can accelerate the rate of removal of these toxins.

This toxic load could possibly be leading to illness, hormonal dysfunction, and contributing to a low metabolism.

Symptoms

An unhealthy colon is a notoriously difficult problem to diagnose, but the following symptoms have all been associated with toxic build-up and constipation:

Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Gas, Acne, Poor Circulation, Back Pain, High Blood Pressure, Low Libido, Obesity, Poor Concentration, Swollen Legs

Other problems such as kidney stones and gallstones can also be helped by cleanses.

Benefits

Cleansing is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body. Regular cleansers report any or all of the following benefits:

More Energy, Improved Mood, Better Digestive System, Clearer Complexion, Better Circulation, Higher Libido, Weight Loss, Improved Concentration, Eliminate Dark Circles under Eyes

What Causes the Toxic Build-up?

We put our colons under a great deal of stress with our modern lifestyle. Years of fast food, cigarettes, prescription drugs and alcohol keep the colon busy. Add to that indigestion, constipation, work-related stress, illnesses and sedentary lifestyles, and you have a recipe for an unhealthy colon.

The colon is the waste pipe of the body. Once the nutrients are taken out and processed, the waste from your food intake is passed through the colon and expelled from your body. What many people don't realize is that this fecal matter can get backed up and solidified in your colon, and without a regular cleansing program can get trapped there for years or decades, slowly releasing toxins into your system.

The waste matter hardens, fixing itself to the wall of the colon. Sometimes an unhealthy colon will have attached to it up to 20 pounds of this matter that just won't go away! Ever wondered why you sometimes feel heavy and bloated?

This waste material can seep through the walls of the colon, releasing toxins into your bloodstream. They can spread through your body, affecting every part of it. Hence the long and varied list of symptoms above

Cleansing and Weight Loss

One of the most popular reasons for doing a cleanse is weight loss. Its true that some colons contain up to 20 pounds of compacted fecal matter. After a cleanse you will feel lighter, fitter and skinnier, even if your body's total fat does not immediately drop.

However, if you combine a Colonic Irrigation with a change in your diet, introducing some freshly squeezed juices and Psyllium husks to aid the cleanse, then you will see sustained weight loss. Your newly invigorated body will be more able to metabolize food, and you will also find you have more energy to work that excess weight off!

Colonics

Colonic irrigation is not just a new age fad - it was even more popular during Egyptian times! This is a gentle method of cleansing the colon of toxins and accumulated waste matter.

Regular colonics help to keep your digestive system, kidneys, and liver functioning properly to cleanse your system regularly on its own.

Colon cleansing can boost your energy levels, improve your complexion and even eliminate skin conditions like dermatitis, psoriasis, acne and eczema.

The Process

Otherwise known as Colon Hydrotherapy, colonics are the most direct route to a clean colon. A typical procedure lasts 45 minutes.

During a session, the patient lies down and is first given a gentle but firm massage in the lower stomach area. This is to loosen the materials that the colonic will hopefully expunge.

A small, sterile and disposable plastic tube is then inserted into the rectum and warm water is passed into the colon. Clients typically report a warm feeling but often have little sensation of the colonic, although it can feel slightly uncomfortable the first time.

The water is allowed to gently flow into your colon, then you push it out along with the fecal matter that it has loosened. This cycle repeats several times.

Other liquids, like coffee, are then typically added to the water. These flow into the colon and help to stimulate the liver to increase bile production and remove toxins from the body.

Its not just waste matter that is removed though - some good bacteria is flushed out along with the bad. However in this newly clean environment, good bacteria can multiply and flourish. Your therapist will often give you a probiotic after the treatment to repopulate your intestine.

Although requirements need to be determined on an individual basis, a series of 10-15 treatments should be adequate to restore optimum health to your colon. After that, one treatment a month should be enough to maintain it.

Colonics and Weight Loss?

Colonics don't really cause weight loss in the conventional sense - they won't help you burn any fat like a good diet or a trip to the gym. What they can do, however, is remove some of the old fecal matter that is weighing you down.

The average person has 10 pounds or more of dormant hardened fecal weight in the colon. This is comprised of mucoid plaque and other toxic matter. After a series of colonics, most people report feeling lighter, healthier and less bloated.

You can combine colonics with a fast or cleanse if you want to really boost your weight loss. Courtney love reportedly loss 40 pounds on a regime of colonics and fasting.

How does colon cleansing Work?

Colon Cleansing uses a combination of herbs natural supplements and lots of liquids, and perhaps some colonic irrigation, to help your body mend its internal organs and restore you to health.

Colonic irrigation (otherwise known as colonics) is an optional part of a colon cleanse, but any serious cleanser will tell you that it greatly increases the effectiveness of the cleanse.

The most important dietary part of a colon cleanse is the Psyllium. When taken with water, Psyllium expands in the bowels, forming a bulky, jelly-like substance. Its rough texture helps it to scrape along the sides of the colon, completely painlessly, and remove the excess waste matter and toxins from your digestive system.

A laxative is often used with Psyllium to aid in the movement of fecal matter from the bowel. However, when Psyllium is in its liquid form many people find it sufficient.

The first stage in a colon cleanse, and before you even think about Psyllium or Bentonite, is to change your diet - eating fresh organically grown vegetables is a great start and will stop any more toxins from entering your system.

Colon Cleansing Techniques

Think about what you eat - fast food is overloaded with additives, beef has added growth hormone, even fish are full of the various chemicals that are pumped into the oceans. So the first stage in your cleanse is to cut out these unnecessary toxins. Don't drink any coffee, alcohol or sodas. As for food, eat small amounts of vegetables and fruit, preferably with high water content.

The second stage involves adding a cleansing supplement to your diet. The two most common are Bentonite and Psyllium, which work best in combination. The Bentonite absorbs the toxins, while the Psyllium pushes them through and out of your system.

PSYLLIUM

Add one or two tablespoons to a glass of water and take with your meal, once or twice daily. Psyllium is a natural fiber that helps the digestive system to work more quickly and effectively. All that old waste matter that is clogging your colon will be pushed right through.

BENTONITE

The indigenous cultures have been using Bentonite clay's healing and detox properties since before recorded history. It has been scientifically proven to absorb toxic substances inside the intestine. The recommended dosage is to mix one teaspoon with eight ounces of water. You can also pour 2-3 ounces into your bath water to absorb toxins from the outside.

To get the most from your colon cleanse, combine it with a course of colonic irrigation. This will get you the best results - those who have been doing colonics for years swear by its effect on your complexion, vitality and overall wellbeing.