LIVER DETOXIFICATION
Tissue Cleansing as the Foundation for Anti-aging Therapy September 9, 1999 By Dr. James E. Williams According to Eastern medicine and traditional naturopathy, the first step in a comprehensive rejuvenation or anti-aging program is tissue cleansing. More often referred to as “detoxification” in current times, cleansing programs are vital for health and longevity. My rule of thumb is 25% cleansing and 75% rebuilding. However, that first 25% must be preformed effectively. Also, you may need to do several cleanse or detox regimes over a period of time to obtain the best results. The key to modern detoxification is to focus on the liver, and secondly on the colon. Symptoms of liver toxicity and reduced liver function include allergies, difficulty losing weight, difficulty when using hormone therapy, nausea, constipation, fatigue, and headaches, to name a few of the more common ones. Liver detoxification begins with elimination of all refined sugars from the diet. Also, eliminate alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods. Do not eat any fried, greasy, or oily foods, and avoid all dairy products. Secondly, take lipotrophic supplements. These are substances that improve liver function, and include herbs, amino acids, and vitamins, such as dandelion, black radish seed, taurine, and B vitamins. There are other more specialized supplements, such as glutathione, that are also very useful. In addition, liver protective herbs should be taken daily for at least three months. The most commonly used one is milk thistle. Drink 8-12 glasses of water of herbal tea daily. This general cleansing regime should be followed from one to three months. Modified fasting may be performed after the toxic burden has been removed from the liver. I recommend the use of a medical food product called UltraClear Plus as part of this stage of liver detoxification. This product may be obtained through your doctor. A course of treatment may last from two weeks to several months. I recommend that a physician trained in natural therapies and functional medicine should monitor this more intensive stage. Before you begin, heart, liver, and gall bladder disease should be evaluated. Recommended Reading: All books by Dr. Bernard Jensen. He is the master in detoxification therapies. Also, The Liver Cleansing Diet, by Dr. Sandra Cabot, an Australian gynecologist and natural therapies expert. For information on the UltaClear formulas, read The Twenty Day Rejuvenation Program, by Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D.
You may contact Dr. Williams for further information on his programs and clinical practice at:
jw@greenmedicine.net