We are often told to do a “detox” after the holiday season to lose weight and to feel better. I know I offer a The WHOLESTIC Method 5-day Jumpstart Challenge every month for clients as well as a 21-day version that includes drinking a detox tea and other supplements to support the liver as well as our digestion system.
Does a detox work?
The liver has a many roles in the body to keep us healthy and alive! So when we overwhelm our liver by drinking too much alcohol, eating too much sugar, eating processed foods, breathing in toxic air at work, outdoors poluntants and home toxins- we need to “cleanse” liver to keep it strong and capable of keeping up with it’s many roles.
As Dr. Axe said in one of his many liver cleansing articles…
“one of the main ways that the body rids itself of toxins is through the liver. In fact, the liver is one of the hardest (and largest) organs in the body. It works tirelessly to detoxify our blood, produce the bile needed to digest fat, breakdown hormones, and store essential vitamins, minerals and irons.” -www.draxe.com
The liver is in charge of processing all of the toxins entering in the body- so we need the liver to be in prime condition to keep up with it’s job. I think a quarterly liver type of detox is beneficial as well as drinking “detox” teas regularly as an herbal tea with dandelion.
Research articles show the benefits of a liver detox include:
- Improved digestion of fat -since the liver produces bile that is stored in the gallbladder that is needed to emulisify fats.
- Improved immune system- since the liver reduces toxins in the body then we can assume our immune system is stronger. Our immune system is our “army” to fight environmental toxins, bad bacteria, viruses and other types of harmful microorganisms.
- Improved liver function will improve the gallbladder’s bile flow which will help to avoid bile stones that form when stagnent bile because hardened and then forms little stones that can block the bile duct. When we have proper liver, gallbladder, pancreas and small intestine -then we will have proper fat digestion and the gallbladder will be able to release the necessary bile. Low-non fat diets as well as bad-fat diets do not trigger the release of bile- so the bile becomes more viscous or old leading to the gallbladder not being able to contract and release the bile- then we don’t properly absorb fats that are crucial to every cell in our body.
- Improved energy and vitality since a healthy functioning liver will help us properly absorb the nutrients our body needs. If our liver has too much toxic build up- some of the nutrients may not continue into our bloodstream for uptake by the cells.
- Learn more on our recent podcast you can find on Itunes or here www.thewholeathletepodcast.com
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