When will you start your liver cleansing diet?

Unfortunately, there always some celebration that puts our liver cleansing diets on the back burner.  Add alcohol and you could set us alight and see us burn for a week. That’s why doing a regular whole body cleanse is so important. And the more often you do it – the easier it will get.

Most people think you should only resort to liver cleansers if you’ve been diagnosed with some chronic illness.

But if you’re reading this you know that prevention is normal housekeeping and there’s nothing like a whole body cleanse to get you through another important year. You want to be up to it, don’t you?

There are different ways to do a healthy detox from a one day fast to a one week juice fest. And as long as you are sensible, drink lots of water, get lots of sleep and consume alkaline foods you’ll feel a little better each day.  

Start your morning with the juice of half a lemon to warm water. This helps with bowel movements and acidity levels. Get juice from a real lemon not a bottle – it’s probably got other things added like sugars or preservatives – the things want to eliminate.

What do you eat?

Liver-loving and colon-loving foods eaten raw or slightly steamed arebest. Include crucifer’s vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage and green leafy vegetables and herbs like kale, chard, parsley, watercress, cilantro, beet greens, collards, escarole, dandelion greens, and mustard greens.

Raw fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals and should make up at least a third of the food consumed daily. Go higher if you can. No frozen or canned fruits and vegetables! Organic locally grown food is best if your busy schedule and wallet allow.

 Juicing your fruits and vegetables easily increases your intake of healthy foods.

Add sulfur-rich foods such as garlic or onions.

Add artichoke, asparagus, beets, celery, dandelion root tea, whey, or nutritional yeast flakes to every meal; these can help restore a damaged liver.

Herbs supplements like Milk Thistle have been shown to help a damaged liver repair 2-3% a year over a longer period of time.  

Whole grains such as brown rice and oatmeal help boost digestion while beans are high in liver-sweeping fiber.

Omega-3 oils are ideal for liver cleansing and can be found in foods such as flaxseed, walnuts, and oily fish.

What Do You Take Out of Your Body Detox Diet?

The usual suspects include coffee, alcohol, sugar, refined foods as well as the hundreds if not thousands of toxins from pollution, pesticides, chemicals, heavy metals and drugs.

No pre-prepared foods found in boxes, bags, cans, and plastics. They’re not always fresh and could contribute mould or bacteria to your system.  

No fatty foods or high fatty meats, fried foods, butter or margarine. Eating junk food or fatty foods will stop your body from cleansing and slow your metabolism.

No pickled or vinegary foods or you’ll turn into a fermentation factory.

great healthy detox food is everywhere - just look!

Foods with preservatives, pesticides, and antibiotics. 

No overeating. Reduce the burden on your liver.

How Long Should A Liver Cleansing Diet Go For?

Now I’ve suggested you can start with a light one day fast. Anything that lessens the pressure on your overloaded system is great. Some people allocate one day a week, every week, yes, every week where they only have juice. But that’s for someone who is over the whole ‘self-deprivation’ thing and moved on to ‘self-preservation’ for health.

If you want to see greater, long lasting results I suggest a body detox diet with light fasting for a few days and then the main whole body cleanse diet.

Detoxifying your body does not mean all your problems are solved and you can go the whole hog again. But you can expect to sleep better, feel lighter, have better skin tone and be more energized. With the right liver cleansing diet you might even a few inches around your stomach! That’s something to sing about!

I did everything to avoid the inevitable – let my stomach rule my head, overate at every opportunity and got trashed on weekends. It caught up with me – always does. My blood pressure went hay wire, I put on extra pounds everywhere but the right place and I won’t even discuss my cholesterol.

Constantly tired? Do a liver cleansing detox

I read up on the effects on rich or fried foods on the body and the amount of processed food in our diets. But before I could do a healthy detox I needed to get my head right or else I would fail on Day One.

I looked at all the positives. A liver cleanse diet uses natural detoxification and cleanses out excessive toxins, helping the liver work better. Because the livers in better shape it can improve immune function, allergies and even help with weight gain.

Honestly, everyone can benefit from doing a liver cleansing diet no matter what your age. But the thing I found the hardest was being determined enough to see it through. I got rid of all the junk food in my cupboards so when cravings and addictions hit there was nothing around to feed them. Not getting in the car and finding the closest fast food place was difficult – but it got easier if I didn’t watch the commercials and stuffed myself with juices and vegetables so at least I was full.

My stomach was teasing me right up to the end so I went to the movies or played some sport so I wasn’t around more temptation.   

Okay, if you’re ready to get the most from your liver cleansing diet then listen up. These are the few things I learnt that might help you.

Drink lots of fresh, preferably filtered water, vegetable juices and eat fresh fruit. Not too much of anything; your goal is to lighten the load for your organs. Your food intake can increase again after you’ve done this for a few days.

Here are a few body detox diet tips you should consider before you start:

1. The easier and simpler you make it, the longer you can manage this kind of healthy detox.
2. Don’t detoxify if you’re pregnant, having your period, just had major surgery or have a serious medical condition. Get medical advice if you’re not sure. None of those are me but I thought I’d add them in.
3. Plan your detox with the right foods, clear your calendar and anticipate side effects. (The more often you do this the less often you’ll get any side effects.)
4. Don’t overeat. Eat small to moderate size meals through the day.
5. Eat your largest meal at breakfast and the lightest and smallest meal at dinner.
6. Get eight hours of sleep a night. This one thing alone can help your liver recuperate  quickly. 
7. Avoid fatty and processed foods – take them out of your universe and banish temptation – or else you are doomed.

Once you’ve let go of some of the rubbish in your body – and your head – you’ll probably find you sleep better, feel lighter and less sluggish. I know I did.

But before I found this great new energized me, I had to let go of all my past conditioning. No more eating late, eating and drinking too much and eating rubbish. And stop watching all those fast food commercials – fast forward or turn it off.

Healthy detox foods are everywhere if you look!

What I don’t want is for some doctor to tell me I have diabetes or cancer or I’m obese and that I need to go on some really strict diet forever and on top of that – take loads of drugs and need surgery. Prevention is king. I do whole body cleanses all the time now because even though I’m not perfect – I am the master of my universe and in that universe I am fit and healthy. Doing a liver cleansing diet helps me feel like that all the time. Its the best liver cleanser there is and not doing one is the biggest scam you’ll ever pull over yourself.