Easy Ways to Reset Your Liver & Your Body

Bethel Wagner
March – April 2023 • Vol 4, No 3

As we head into spring, it’s worth reflecting on what shifts we need to make to be in rhythm with the natural world. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) considers winter a time to find stillness, reflect inwardly, and deeply nourish ourselves. On the other hand, spring is a time for growth, renewal, and detoxification. Spring is associated with the wood element, the color green, the liver, and the gallbladder.

Spring is an excellent time to focus on gentle detoxification. The body detoxifies through the liver, digestive system, kidneys, lymph, skin, and lungs. It is helpful to focus on supporting the liver during the spring months. There are many ways to do so, but here are a few of my favorites:

• Focus on eating lots of leafy greens and cruciferous veggies. Try lettuces, arugula, kale, broccoli sprouts, etc. Greens with a more bitter-flavor profile help to stimulate digestive juices.
• Include as many colorful veggies, fruits, and berries as possible. These foods provide the phytonutrients and tools your liver needs to clean house and detoxify.
• Remember to eat clean protein. Protein provides the liver with the building blocks needed to package waste and toxins and safely remove them from the body. Beans, lentils, salmon, organic poultry, and wild game are all excellent options to include.
• Warm lemon water in the morning can help to stimulate and flush out the liver. Evidence suggests that lemon may even help the liver heal itself.
• Dandelion root, milk thistle, and schisandra berry help support and detoxify the liver. Try them as a tea or in tincture form.
• Ditch the caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine and alcohol are both liver loaders. If you are serious about repairing your liver, remove them for 2–3 weeks.
• Don’t overeat. The liver is like a pantry. It stores any extra sugars, fats, or nutrients we don’t need immediately. If there is a constant excess, the liver starts storing those nutrients as fat, which can lead to the development of fatty liver. Once the liver is full, fat is deposited in other locations around the body. A clogged liver is often the culprit when people have difficulty losing weight.
• Avoid exposure to synthetic chemicals and toxins as much as possible. The liver is responsible for filtering out toxins, but in our modern world, sometimes there are just too many to keep up with. Give your liver some love by switching to non-toxic personal care and cleaning products. Make an effort to thoroughly wash your produce, or buy organic to avoid exposure to glyphosate and other insecticides.
• Weed out any unnecessary supplements. Supplements can be helpful, but taking too many or the wrong ones places an additional burden on the liver. We like to use our biofeedback system to identify which supplements are working and which ones aren’t to assist in this process. Do not stop taking any prescription medications without the supervision of your doctor.
• Include gentle movement. Activities like walking, stretching, or yoga encourage regular elimination. They also help build and maintain lean muscle, which helps to burn fat.
• Intentionally redu