Maz – liver detox

[Patti D]

Hi Maz,

Hope today brings you peace. I am doing the liver cleanse and hopefully correctly. I take one lemon without the peal , add some water and 1 tbsp. of virgin olive oil.  Put in my magic bullet and presto- the liver gets some help. Now I have been dumping the pulp . Is that ok. I like the drink and think it really calms me down and makes me a  little sleepy. Am I missing something. I met a woman on my vacation who has just written a book to be published on how she cured her two boys with autism with a specific diet. She told me to use cod liver oil as a cleanse. Ever heard of this??

Happy days!

Patti D.

[Maz]

Hi Patti,

Great that you're doing the lemon/olive oil detox drink and finding benefit. I make it every night, like clockwork, and drink before bed. You mentioned you were cutting off the peel, but the recipe actually calls for blending with the peel. I think the peel contains pectin, which helps to emulsify the olive oil when blending (so it doesn't float to the top, like a salad dressing). Pectin also softens possible gall stones. Just be sure to scrub the skin, first, before quartering, getting rid of the green stamps and stickers they sometimes apply.

The recipe I use is:

I lemon, scrubbed and quartered.

1 1/2 cups filtered, pure water.

2 tbsps first cold pressed olive oil (the greener the better)

Then, throw it all in the blender. I also add ice cubes (makes it more like a smoothie), ginger (anti-inflammatory) and 'sometimes' a garlic clove (antimicrobial/anti-fungal). Once blended, then just use a wire sieve to strain out the pulp, which you throw away.

This is a very gentle, liver cleanser/detoxifier. There are, however, full liver flushes one can do, too, but these involve a lot more in the way of special, liver-friendly diet, colon cleansing, supplements and fasting in advance of the flush. The one I used a few years ago was a weeklong protocol…although the diet is really a lifestyle change.

Peace, Maz

 

[Lynne G.SD]

Hi Maz;
     I was thinking about what you said about liver detox in case it is my liver that is making me itch when I eat.Only problem is that citrus are on my forbidden food list due to high sensitivity.Do you know of anything else that might work.   Lynne

[Maz]

Hi Lynne,

Oh boy…that makes it a little more challenging. Ummm…I can't think of any alternatives to lemon other than the other citrus fruits – oranges, grapefruits – and not sure if they'd work as well or not.

Probably the people to ask would be the ones at the yahoo group “gallstones” (I sent you a private message with this link). Some of the oldies have been around on that group for years and might be able to suggest an alternative to lemon that could work.

Or you could also try calling the people who sell “Oxypowder” in the liver flush recipe link from their site in the same pm. I've called them before and they were great with my questions.

Sorry not to be of any other help with this. 🙁

Peace, Maz

[Joe M]

Not trying to start anything here, but if lemons upset your stomach you might try increasing your water intake and reducing caloric intake instead of drinking lemons.  Again, I'm not trying to start a debate, but there is no evidence I can find that the liver needs any help detoxing the body besides remaining hydrated, and calorie restriction is known to promote a sense of well-being.   Maz, I would be interested to learn more about the theory behind the lemon thing and if any attempt has been made to study it. 

[Lynne G.SD]

Hi Maz;
         These food sensitivities are a real pain in the — and the longer I am on AP the worse it seems to get.I did have yeast and leaky gut before I was ever diagnosed with SD but after a couple of years it went away.Now iall the problems are back w8ith a vengance,to the point that I can't have any citrus,legumes,nightshades,asperigus,”cow” anything,lamb,grains,MSG (it is in just about avery processed food) ,all food with vit D as I am still “sky high” and a few more that I can't think of at the moment.I can't have nuts or anything like raspberries that have hard bits in them as I now have diverticulosis that is probably caused by the leaky gut and celiac.
           There are a few “leaky gut” diets that seem to be even more restrictive.The one thing they all advocate is apple cider vinegar.I can't see the reason for it being made with apples because acetic  is acetic acid and can be made from lots of things but just in case,I do use it.They also say to avoid all meat except lamb so that is out of the question for me and I eat chicken or porc.
          Somehow this whole “itching thing” seems to start when food is in my mouth or a couple of minutes after it has landed in my stomack.I do have a bady coated tongue so I know that the problem is throughout my digestive system and the only thing I can think of is that the yeast seems to start an allergic reaction when in contact with food.This sounds odd but it is the only conclusion I get.I badly need to gain 10 kilos and perhaps if I could ever gain weight I might have more stamina to fight this thing.
        Being a scientist I know that all problems have a solution,all I have to do is find it before my sense of humour runs out.    Lynne

[Maz]

[user=20]Joe M[/user] wrote:

Not trying to start anything here, but if lemons upset your stomach you might try increasing your water intake and reducing caloric intake instead of drinking lemons.  Again, I'm not trying to start a debate, but there is no evidence I can find that the liver needs any help detoxing the body besides remaining hydrated, and calorie restriction is known to promote a sense of well-being.   Maz, I would be interested to learn more about the theory behind the lemon thing and if any attempt has been made to study it. 

Hi Joe,

No worries….I don't take it as you “starting something.” Maybe it just depends on which side of the pond you're standing – i.e. chronically ill or not? For people who have elevated liver enzymes, because they can't eliminate a medication properly from their systems or they have leaky gut and have all kinds of improperly digested food particles or intestinal pathogens floating around in their blood stream and they aren't leaving their body in the usual way, I think they just have a different view from their side of the pond. T'was ever thus…”Perspective creates perception” of anything we are looking at or dealing with.

Unfortunately, what's been dubbed, “The American Diet” is probably at the root of a lot of things. A few years ago, I was pretty ignorant of just how many people suffer from poor elimination, as a result. You're right that drinking more water and staying hydrated helps the gut to keep moving, but it's not the whole picture, unfortunately, especially where leaky gut is concerned. And, for some people who have rheumatoid disease, their bodies are in such a state of hypersensitivity that it's difficult to find anything – meds included – that don't cause them to break out in rashes, have unbearable herx reactions or cause some other intolerable allergic reaction. Some are are already anorexic (from being unable to eat – either due to sensitivities or just having no appetite when sick) so that reducing calories further only worsens their condition.

For the chronically ill, who must take medications all their lives – pain meds, powerful anti-inflammatories, disease-modifiers and antibiotics –  you know the drill, because you've done masses of research on these….the liver is working overtime and doing a lot more than it was designed to do. Of course, we all know there have been a lot of quackbusting attempts with the whole question of liver flushing/detoxing, but I think what the naysayers are saying is, again, only part of the picture. Maybe they have no experience of being chronicially ill or they really haven't done their homework. For someone who really does their research on liver flushing, it involves a lot more than just drinking epsoms, lemon juice and olive oil. These are just the ingredients that help the liver contract and dump. It's a lifestyle change of diet, hydration, exercise, supplements, fasting prior to the flush and keeping the eliminations moving to avoid the back up that causes sluggish GBs, stones and fatty livers.

In answer to your question about “studies,” I haven't heard of any and I doubt anyone is going to spend the time or money to do so for a simple home remedy. 🙁 However, it is studied well by those who implement it and is considered a well-tried and used home remedy that's been around a very long time….long before our modern day medicine. For it to still be in use today, scores of people must be experiencing benefits or it would have landed in the junk pile under a “snake oil” sign.

To hydrate and fast, as you suggested, are actually part of the flush protocol…it's just not the whole picture. 😉 The purpose of the flush is to cleanse the gut throughly (getting rid of backed up waste in the colon similar to what one would do prior to a colonoscopy) and relax and dilate the bile ducts with the epsoms, before drinking enough oil (after fasting) to cause the liver and gall bladder to contract and expel bile. With the expulsion of bile comes anything else that shouldn't be there. To try and do a full flush without the epsoms component would probably be foolhardy, because everything the liver pushes out would have no means of escape in a backed-up gut full of waste.

You asked about the “lemon” component. As far as I know (and this is from vague memory only), the lemon acts as an emulsifier that helps to scrub the gut lining and is full of antioxidants to help the body neutralize the toxins that flood into the gut during the flush. Come to think of it, it may be possible to simply use Vit C, instead of the lemon juice, but I wouldn't know the doses and is probably something to ask the experts who have been at this a while.

Having said all this…Joe, I can't stake any claim to being an expert on either the lemon/olive oil detox drink or the more hard core “liver flush” techniques. I researched it a few years ago, I decided to give it a go and it saved my gall bladder. That's all I really know. I also felt incredibly well after doing the flush….energetic and healthier than I'd felt in a long time – all GB pain gone. I probably could have done a few more flushes than I did, but it takes some amount of work and dedication to the protocol. However, I did learn a lot about liver friendly eating and the value of a healthy lifestyle….things I regrettably didn't pay much heed to until it came to the crunch, unfortunately. 

If anyone wants to know more about liver flushing or just general healthy diet to support your liver, just go to this link, where you can ask the experienced old timers or just listen and lurk – although, if you do, I suggest you opt for the “daily digest” for your posts, because this site gets pretty active at times and you'll be flooded with individual posts coming to your email inbox:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/gallstones/

Peace, Maz

[Maz]

Lynne….as per your last post above, I think you may be on to something with the candida. Liver flushing is said to help with this, too, though I'm not sure with your diverticulitis if it would be contraindicated. In any case, the people at the gallstones group were very helpful with regard to many of these types of concerns and very well versed.

I also vaguely remembered, as mentioned in my reply to Joe above, that I think I recall some people substituting Vit C for the lemon juice component of the flush…but this is also something you could ask at the gallstones yahoogroup.

I hope the same old-timers are there….they were great. If not, hopefully some other helpful soul will pipe in to help you with your concerns. They really do know so much about diet and candida…and, of course, the gut and liver/GB function. Their archives are also a wealth of info.

I apologise, but I have to dash now….wedding rehearsal and wedding tomorrow…a busy weekend coming up, so may not be around for a couple days.

Sorry to hear you're having to go through this, Lynne. I really wish I knew more to help, but I know with your background you'll find the answers and get on top of this, if anyone will. Please keep in touch and let us know what you find and how you're getting on. I'll keep you in my thoughts.

Peace, Maz

 

[Joe M]

Thanks Maz that was very helpful.

Have a great weekend.

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