Why I'm Doing a 14-Day Liver Detox and Digestive Cleanse, and Why You Might Want to Do One Too

Do you ever wake up between two and four in the morning feeling too warm, or even downright sweaty, and can’t get back to sleep? It might be a sign that your liver is loaded with too many toxins and needs some support.

Every night I wake up around 4 am. I’m warm and I have to kick off all the covers. Sometimes I’m awake for 2 minutes, sometimes 2 hours. I know this is largely due to my mid-life hormone shift. I know disrupted sleep is one of the most common symptoms of menopause. But I decided to do a liver and digestive cleanse to find out if cleaning up my liver and gut could help with my 4 a.m. issues.

I’m doing Dr. Frank Lipman’s elimination and digestive cleanse. I’m on day 6 and I’m feeling great about eliminating all the liver loaders from my body. My diet has been clean for years, but I do indulge in some of the worst liver loaders; ie: alcohol, skin lotions, hair color, cosmetics, gel nail polish, non organic food in restaurants and sometimes caffeine- but mainly green tea. Using all organic beauty products is in the works for me, but that’s for another blog!

Elimination and detoxification are the foundation of our health. And from time to time everyone's detoxification and digestion system needs a little TLC. Here are some signs that your liver may need some support, especially if you experience more than 3 of these.

1. Waking consistently between 2-4 a.m. and feeling too warm

2. Increased body fat, especially in tummy or thighs

3. Increased cellulite

4. Bloating (fluid retention)

5. Poor (low) energy

6. Short temper, with bursts of frustration or anger

7. Skin breakouts; itchy, red or inflamed skin

8. PMS

9. Constipation

10. Super hungry (starving) at different times during the day.

11. Craving starchy or salty food

What toxins are worst for our liver? Here’s a list of liver loaders to avoid:

1. Alcohol

2. Caffeine

3. Pesticides

4. Artificial flavors, colors and preservatives

5. All non organic skin creams and cosmetics

6. Grains that contain gluten

7. Trans fats

8. Refined sugars

Other liver loaders that are harder to avoid or can’t be avoided:

1. Cholesterol

2. Estrogen.

3. Viruses like mononucleosis or herpes

4. The air we breathe

5. The water we drink

6. The soil our food is grown in

Important facts to note!

The liver will always prioritize detoxing alcohol first (because it’s truly like poison in the body) over what the body makes. (like natural cholesterol and estrogen) The liver then releases the cholesterol and /or estrogen back into our blood supply and we recycle our cholesterol and estrogen. That's when our blood cholesterol goes up and the risk of reproductive cancers increase.

A healthy diet is critical for the liver to do it's work. When we warm up in the morning with caffeine and cool down in the evenings with alcohol, those substances prevent the liver from doing it’s very important job. If the liver isn’t working optimally, we will not be able to properly absorb nutrients from our food or balance our sex hormones. We will have increased body fat and suffer from poor sleep. So be honest with yourself about how much coffee and alcohol you drink. (bummer, right?)

Here are a list of foods the liver loves for natural cleansing:

Add in as many of these supportive liver lovers to your daily diet as you can!

1. Beats and carrots

2. Brussel sprouts

3. Cauliflower

4. kale

5. lemons

6. leafy greens

7. Avocados

8. Apples

9. Olive oil

10. Grapefruit

11. Organic cosmetics

12. Cabbage

13. Turmeric

14. Exercise

Other ways to help digestion and detoxification

1. Chew your food well. The digestion process begins in the mouth by breaking down the food, so when it arrives in the stomach, it's already partially digested. This is the best way to avoid belly bloat and gas.

2. Drink water between meals. Not during meals. Our hot stomach acid will not be able to properly cook (break down) the food in our belly before it moves into our small intestines, where the nutrients are absorbed, if we interfere with the stomach acid's natural PH balance with cool water.

3. Stay away from artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.

4. Life is precious, you are precious, so practice self-love and self care.

And I’ll let you know how I feel after I've completed the liver and digestive cleanse.  
xx NK

For more info on Dr Frank Lipman's cleanse go to www.bewell.com (he does not know that I'm writing about his awesome 2 week cleanse)