Liver Cleansing

The liver is a digestive organ that has many complex roles in the body, the main one of which is to filter blood from the digestive tract. The liver is responsible for the conversion of nutrients in our diet into substances that the body can use. It also converts the toxins that we ingest into waste products, cleanses your blood and produces proteins important for blood clotting – just to name a few of its important functions.

What is a liver cleanse?

While a healthy liver should naturally cleanse itself, sometimes the workload we place on the organ is so great, that it starts to need support in order to function optimally. The simplest and most effective way to support your liver is to firstly remove or reduce any foods, drinks and toxic substances that place additional pressure on the liver. The second most efficient way is to increase your intake of highly nutritious foods, drinks and herbs that offer support for the liver. By becoming more conscious of these two points, you begin to reduce the workload for the liver and support the filtration of toxins.

Consuming a well-balanced diet with a focus on wholesome, plant based eating, including fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains, herbs and spices, is a great place to start. Cruciferous vegetables come from the Brassica family and are a remarkable group of vegetables, which offer many amazing health benefits, including their role in detoxification.

Cruciferous vegetables include leafy greens, kale, spinach, cauliflower, turnip, brussel sprouts, bok choy, to name a few. The detoxifying quality of cruciferous vegetables is thought to be directly connected to the phytochemical- plant based compound; sulforaphane, which works to help filter toxic substances from the liver. By bringing more cruciferous vegetables into your diet, you can help your liver better cope with the heavy workload it faces from the internal and external environment each day.

 

What else can I do to support liver detoxification?

Rather than undertaking a more intense juice fast, we prefer to take a more holistic approach and focus on healthy juices each day, in addition to a wholesome diet. Fresh juices are a quick and easy way to ensure you incorporate a range of seasonal vegetables into your diet and if you focus on adding in a few cruciferous vegetables, you will be able to offer specific support for your liver as well. There are so many juice recipes available, but we have also listed one of our favourites here for you:

– Apple
– Beetroot (and the tops)
– Kale
– Spinach
– Celery
– Carrot
– Ginger
– Turmeric

You may also like to introduce a freshly squeezed lemon in warm water 30 minutes before breakfast, at the start of your day, to help support digestive function. Lemon is alkalising and supports a healthy metabolism. By adding warm water rather than cold water, we support the digestive function and ensure less work for the body as it doesn’t have to warm the water up.

 

Can tea support detoxification?

Love Tea offers a Liver Cleanse blend that can also support healthy liver detoxification. Our naturopath has carefully selected this blend of organic herbs, to support healthy liver function and aid detoxification. Many of the ingredients of this blend including St Mary’s thistle, schizandra and dandelion, offer therapeutic qualities that have traditionally been used to repair and protect the hepatocytes and aid the clearance of toxins. This grounding blend offers a smooth, refreshing taste, with subtle hints of mint and hibiscus and can be enjoyed day or night, as it is also caffeine free.

 

How to brew Liver Cleanse tea?

Place a heaped teaspoon (2.5 grams) of tea per cup (250ml) into a teapot or infuser. Add filtered water at 75ºc–85ºc and allow to infuse for 3–5+ minutes.
Strain the tea and serve.

If you prefer to use pyramid tea bags, simply place 1 pyramid into a cup (250ml) and add boiling, filtered water at 75ºc–85ºc, allow the tea to infuse for 3–5+ minutes, and then remove the bag and serve. You can also serve your Liver cleanse tea with a fresh squeeze of lemon.

Explore Liver Cleanse

Our naturopath has carefully selected this blend of organic herbs, to support healthy liver function and aid detoxification. Ingredients including St Mary’s thistle, schizandra and dandelion, offer therapeutic qualities that have traditionally been used to repair and protect the cells of the liver, and aid the clearance of toxins. This blend offers a smooth, refreshing taste, with subtle hints of mint and hibiscus.

Explore